Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Reviewing the major features in the patent landscape of RNA-mediated gene suppression may aid the development of patent strategies that will support the next generation of genetically modified crops.
Gene therapy vectors based on adeno-associated virus tend to accumulate in the liver, limiting their utility for targeting other organs. Using site-directed mutagenesis of the capsid surface, Asokan et al. generate a variant that efficiently transduces a wide range of muscle groups while avoiding the liver.
Cloud computing offers solutions for companies wrestling with large-scale data sets, but security issues will likely continue to restrict its use to precompetitive or nonconfidential data. Clare Sansom reports.
One reason for the high failure rate of experimental cancer therapies is that mouse tumor models do not accurately predict the behavior of human cancers. Zhou et al. provide more realistic models by generating chimeric mice bearing drug-inducible, tissue-specific oncogenes.
We have yet to identify the functions of the majority of genes of Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria. Hu et al. profile transcriptional changes after chemically induced growth perturbations to assemble a protein network that predicts P. faliciparum gene function.
Sequencing a person's genome may reveal large DNA insertions and other structural rearrangements, but assessing their effects requires pinpointing them to nucleotide resolution. Lam et al. use a library of previously discovered rearrangements to map and analyze genetic variation.
The intrinsic variation between mass spectrometry data collected from replicate samples is a major hurdle to realizing the full potential of shotgun proteomics. Griffin et al. present a simple method to compare label-free quantifications between technical and biological replicates.
Finding safe inhibitors of phosphodiesterase 4, the enzyme that breaks down cAMP, has been a longstanding goal in pharmaceutical development. Burgin et al. use crystal structure data to develop allosteric inhibitors that lack the emetic side effects of existing inhibitors in animals.