Volume 500 Issue 7460, 1 August 2013

Inconsistent standards and a lack of research investment have left UK legal science in chaos.

The government of Nawaz Sharif needs to appoint a tough leader to deliver on its election promise of a research renaissance, says Ehsan Masood.

This week in science: NASA solar observatory releases first images, European food-safety head resigns, and pioneering sex researcher dies.

California facilities respond to US panel’s call for a powerful free-electron laser.

US biomedical agency could enlist independent labs for verification.

Scientists say core tools and expertise remain necessary.

Two experiments test viability of sequestering emissions in porous layers of hard rock.

When a single genetic mutation first let ancient Europeans drink milk, it set the stage for a continental upheaval.

Male and female cells can behave differently — it is time that researchers, journals and funders took this seriously, says Elizabeth Pollitzer.

Nicky Clayton enjoys a tribute to the enduring relationship between birds and humanity.

Edward Humes explores a study of the psychological dissociation plaguing our relationship with nature.

Gene Russo surveys a high-tech exhibition celebrating the double helix and the human genome sequence.

Nobel-prizewinning physicist who revolutionized theoretical science.

Data from three teams show that alteration of a single cell-signalling mechanism can unlock the latent head-regeneration potential in normally regeneration-deficient species of flatworm. See Letters p.73, p.77 & p.81

Innovative measurements of ocean turbulence show that mixing of cold water from below makes the surface of the equatorial Pacific much colder in September than in March. See Letter p.64

The gene variant APOE4 is the most common genetic risk factor associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease. A comprehensive, multilayer study reveals the molecular and cellular signatures of APOE4 in humans. See Article p.45

Nanometre-scale thermometers that operate with millikelvin sensitivity have now been made from diamond crystals. The devices have been used to measure temperature gradients in living cells. See Letter p.54

Metastatic tumour cells often remain dormant for years. New findings suggest that endothelial cells lining blood vessels have a central role in regulating the transition from dormancy to metastatic growth.

An in vivo genetic approach to generate mosaic expression of Myc in the mouse epiblast reveals evidence of cell competition, a tissue homeostasis mechanism first described in Drosophila by which viable but suboptimal cells are eliminated from metazoan tissues; during normal development Myc expression levels in the epiblast are heterogeneous, and endogenous cell competition refines the epiblast cell population through the apoptotic elimination of cells with low relative Myc levels.

Whole transcriptome differential gene co-expression correlation analysis of cerebral cortex of APOE ε4 allele carriers and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease patients reveals an APOE ε4 carrier transcription network pattern that resembles that of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease and also identifies new genes of interest for further study.

An absolute age of about ten billion years is determined for the globular cluster 47 Tucanae, which is about two billion years younger than the cluster NGC 6397 is thought to be, suggesting that metal-rich clusters like 47 Tucanae formed later than metal-poor clusters like NGC 6397.

A nanoscale thermometry technique that uses coherent manipulation of the electronic spin associated with nitrogen–vacancy colour centres in diamond makes it possible to detect temperature variations as small as 1.8 millikelvin in ultrapure samples and to control and map temperature gradients within living cells.

Stretchable conductors have many applications, from flexible electronics to medical implants; here polyurethane is filled with gold nanoparticles to give a composite with tunable viscoelastic properties arising from the dynamic self-organization of the nanoparticles under stress.

In the tropics, a strong seasonal cycle in sea surface temperature exists despite comparatively constant radiation inputs; turbulent mixing from below is now shown to control the cooling phase of the seasonal cycle in the equatorial Pacific ‘cold tongue’ at 140° W.

Diffusion modelling of nickel in mantle melts beneath a volcano reveals the short timescales of magma movement from the base of the crust to the surface in the months to years before an eruption.

More than a century ago, Thomas Hunt Morgan attempted to explain the extraordinary regenerative ability of planarians such as Dugesia japonica, which can regenerate a complete individual even from a tail fragment, by proposing that two opposing morphogenetic gradients along the anterior–posterior axis are required for regeneration; here ERK and β-catenin signalling are shown to form these gradients.

Although the capacity for tissue regeneration of planarians is exceptional, planarians with more limited regenerative capacities are known; this study of Procotyla fluviatilis, a planarian with restricted ability to replace missing tissues, shows that Wnt signalling is aberrantly regulated in regeneration-deficient tissues and that downregulation of Wnt signalling in these regions restores regenerative abilities, revealing that manipulating a single signalling pathway can reverse the evolutionary loss of regenerative potential.

Although the capacity for tissue regeneration of planarians is exceptional, planarians with more limited regenerative capacities are known; here knocking down components of the Wnt signalling pathway rescues head regeneration in the regeneration-impaired planarian Dendrocoelum lacteum, revealing that manipulating a single signalling pathway can reverse the evolutionary loss of regenerative potential.

A group of transcriptionally defined spinal neurons, V0 neurons, are identified as necessary for the control of normal alternation of left and right limbs in mice.

Fibroblasts deficient in the activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) enzyme are shown to fail to stabilize in the pluripotent state, despite initiating the expression of pluripotency genes.

A multiprotein complex containing AML1–ETO, the most common fusion protein found in acute myeloid leukaemia, is revealed and analysed in leukaemic cells, and a novel, functionally important protein-binding interface is identified.

The bacterial chaperone named trigger factor is found to stabilize protein folding intermediates that eventually convert to the native state, suggesting that chaperones play a direct role in instructing protein folding.

The first inhibitor-bound X-ray crystal structures of the bacterial multidrug efflux transporter AcrB and its homologue MexB are presented, with the inhibitor shown to bind the transporter through a narrow hydrophobic pit, thereby preventing rotation of AcrB and MexB monomers.

Here, the structure of the 30S ribosomal subunit and the 70S ribosome in complex with a messenger RNA with pseudouridine in the place of uridine reveals unexpected base pairing.

Countries on the Arabian Peninsula are vying to attract young scientists to their universities.

Scientists have to promote their work. But they should fight the pull to oversell it, says Monika Maleszewska.

Trendy topics drive research pursuits.

Slashed science budgets drive young researchers to seek EU funding.

Proceeds from selling research images support conference travel.

It's no game.