nature

THIS WEEK

Editorials

Openness costs ▶

Two reports highlight key aspects of the global trend towards open access to research results: who will pay, and how much, to supply what to whom?

A first step ▶

Perhaps the Earth conference was not a wasted opportunity but the start of a new journey.

Pig out ▶

If farmers do not rein in the use of antibiotics for livestock, people will be severely affected.

World View

Open your minds and share your results ▶

An open approach is the best way to maximize the benefits of research for both scientists and the public, says Geoffrey Boulton

Seven Days

Seven days: 22–28 June 2012 ▶

The week in science: Galapagos giant tortoise 'Lonesome George' dies; United Nations to set up board of science advisers; and London's Royal Society urges an era of open data.

NEWS IN FOCUS

Wealth gap curbs Rio goals ▶

Outcome of last week's Earth Summit reflects the divided priorities of rich and poor nations.

Freeze on mutant-flu research set to thaw ▶

But some fear that if more labs work on the viruses, the risk of accidental release will multiply.

Sea versus senators ▶

North Carolina sea-level rise accelerates while state legislators put the brakes on research.

California condors face lead menace ▶

Signature species may need perpetual conservation.

Science at stake in Mexican election ▶

Presidential candidates vow to restore research reputation.

Model pigs face messy path ▶

As approvals for engineered food animals stall, pigs may be US regulators' next challenge.

Fetal tests spur legal battle ▶

A newborn industry based on non-invasive genetic testing turns combative.

Features

Influenza: Five questions on H5N1 ▶

Scientists now know that the deadly bird flu virus is capable of causing a human pandemic. That makes tackling the remaining unknowns all the more urgent.

Phylogeny: Rewriting evolution ▶

Tiny molecules called microRNAs are tearing apart traditional ideas about the animal family tree.

COMMENT

Ecology: Save the Baltic Sea ▶

Geoengineering efforts to bring oxygen into the deep Baltic should be abandoned, says Daniel J. Conley.

Sustainable farming: Get pigs off antibiotics ▶

Frank Aarestrup explains how he helped Denmark to cut the use of antibiotics in its livestock by 60%, and calls on the rest of the world to follow suit.

Books and Arts

Physics: A shining life ▶

Frank Close enjoys the life of Hans Bethe, a Manhattan Project veteran who probed the hearts of stars.

Books in brief ▶

Cities: Metropolitan mash-up ▶

Anthony King enters a parallel city that teems with hackers innovating for the public good.

Fiction: Ray Bradbury, an appreciation ▶

Astronomer and author David Brin celebrates the legacy of a literary titan whose life-long pursuit of new horizons changed the face of science fiction.

Q&A: The sound catcher ▶

Tom Mitchell uses engineering and computing to enable people to play and sample live music using gestures. With the latest version of his co-creation 'The Gloves' about to debut at TEDGlobal 2012 in Edinburgh, UK, he talks about adaptive musical interaction.

Correspondence

Environment: Carson no 'beacon of reason' on DDT Tony Trewavas | Neuroscience: Help to survey the use of smart drugs Imre Bard & Ilina Singh | Tumours: Less lactation may explain cancer rise Anne Marie Oudesluys-Murphy | Sustainability: Limit consumption to preserve habitats Marco Sakai | Astronomy: Clue to an ancient cosmic-ray event? Jonathon Allen

Obituary

Andrew Fielding Huxley (1917–2012) ▶

Biophysicist who showed how nerves carry electrical signals and muscles contract.

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Evolutionary physiology: A bone for all seasons ▶

Kevin Padian

Biophysical mechanism of T-cell receptor triggering in a reconstituted system ▶

John R. James & Ronald D. Vale

After introducing the T-cell receptor and other essential signalling genes, a non-immune cell is capable of displaying the early events of T-cell activation when placed in contact with antigen-presenting cells, and the initial signalling in this reconstituted system is shown to require the spatial reorganization of molecules at the cell interface.

Myocardial infarction accelerates atherosclerosis ▶

Partha Dutta, Gabriel Courties, Ying Wei, Florian Leuschner, Rostic Gorbatov et al.

Myocardial infarction accelerates atherosclerosis through activation of the sympathetic nervous system, and the consequent release of haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells.

Independent evolution of striated muscles in cnidarians and bilaterians ▶

Patrick R. H. Steinmetz, Johanna E. M. Kraus, Claire Larroux, Jörg U. Hammel, Annette Amon-Hassenzahl et al.

This phylogenomic study shows that core muscle proteins were already present in unicellular organisms before the origin of multicellular animals, and supports a convergent evolutionary model for striated muscles in which new proteins are added to ancient contractile apparatus during independent evolution of bilaterians and some non-bilaterians, resulting in very similar ultrastructures.

The diet of Australopithecus sediba ▶

Amanda G. Henry, Peter S. Ungar, Benjamin H. Passey, Matt Sponheimer, Lloyd Rossouw et al.

Phytolith, stable carbon isotope, and dental microwear texture data for two individuals of Au. sediba, 2-million-year-old hominins from South Africa, show that they consumed a mostly C₃ diet that probably included harder foods, and both dicotyledons (for example, tree leaves, fruits, and wood or bark) and monocotyledons (for example, grasses and sedges); this diet contrasts with previously described diets of other early hominin species.

Atmospheric CO₂ forces abrupt vegetation shifts locally, but not globally ▶

Steven I. Higgins & Simon Scheiter

A model of the effects of climate change on African vegetation from 1850 to 2100 predicts increases in woody plant cover, but considerable heterogeneity in the timing of these shifts dampens the shock that these changes in land-surface properties may represent to the Earth system.

Seasonal bone growth and physiology in endotherms shed light on dinosaur physiology ▶

Meike Köhler, Nekane Marín-Moratalla, Xavier Jordana & Ronny Aanes

Dinosaurs were not necessarily cold-blooded: the main argument in favour of this, namely the presence of seasonal lines of arrested bone growth, has been demolished by a comprehensive study of extant ruminants.

Proto-genes and de novo gene birth ▶

Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis, Thomas Rolland, Ilan Wapinski, Michael A. Calderwood, Muhammed A. Yildirim et al.

Novel protein-coding genes can arise either from pre-existing genes or de novo; here it is shown that functional genes emerge de novo through transitory proto-genes generated by widespread translational activity in non-genic sequences.

Universal species–area and endemics–area relationships at continental scales ▶

David Storch, Petr Keil & Walter Jetz

The change in number of terrestrial vertebrate species or endemics with sampled area is characterized by universal curves whose properties depend only on the mean geographic range size of species.

Human dorsal anterior cingulate cortex neurons mediate ongoing behavioural adaptation ▶

Sameer A. Sheth, Matthew K. Mian, Shaun R. Patel, Wael F. Asaad, Ziv M. Williams et al.

Functional imaging, single-cell recording and targeted surgical lesions were used in human patients undergoing cingulotomy to show that the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex provides a continuously updated prediction of expected cognitive demand.

Articles and Letters

Dimensionality of consumer search space drives trophic interaction strengths ▶

Samraat Pawar, Anthony I. Dell & Van M. Savage

Consumption rates vary substantially between consumers searching in three dimensions (for example, arboreal and pelagic zones), with consumption rates scaling superlinearly with consumer body mass, and those searching in two dimensions (for example, terrestrial and benthic zones), with consumption rates scaling sublinearly with consumer body mass.

mTORC1 in the Paneth cell niche couples intestinal stem-cell function to calorie intake ▶

Ömer H. Yilmaz, Pekka Katajisto, Dudley W. Lamming, Yetis Gültekin, Khristian E. Bauer-Rowe et al.

In the mouse intestine, calorie restriction enhances the regenerative capacity of intestinal stem cells by reducing mTORC1 signalling in their Paneth cell niche.

A map of nucleosome positions in yeast at base-pair resolution ▶

Kristin Brogaard, Liqun Xi, Ji-Ping Wang & Jonathan Widom

A new technique for mapping nucleosomes genome-wide with single-base-pair accuracy, by chemical modification of engineered histones.

Activation of remote meta-C–H bonds assisted by an end-on template ▶

Dasheng Leow, Gang Li, Tian-Sheng Mei & Jin-Quan Yu

Rapid synthesis of complex molecules via selective functionalization of unactivated carbon–hydrogen bonds is here made easier with the use of removable ‘templates’ that enable the activation of distal bonds.

Three-dimensional limb joint mobility in the early tetrapod Ichthyostega ▶

Stephanie E. Pierce, Jennifer A. Clack & John R. Hutchinson

Three-dimensional reconstruction and modelling of limb joint mobility in the early tetrapod Ichthyostega is used to provide insights into an important step in vertebrate evolution—the transition from swimming to walking.

The bonobo genome compared with the chimpanzee and human genomes ▶

Kay Prüfer, Kasper Munch, Ines Hellmann, Keiko Akagi, Jason R. Miller et al.

Sequencing of the bonobo genome shows that more than three per cent of the human genome is more closely related to either the bonobo genome or the chimpanzee genome than those genomes are to each other.

Emergence of KRAS mutations and acquired resistance to anti-EGFR therapy in colorectal cancer ▶

Sandra Misale, Rona Yaeger, Sebastijan Hobor, Elisa Scala, Manickam Janakiraman et al.

Molecular alterations in KRAS are associated with acquired resistance to anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) treatment in colorectal cancer; resistant mutations can be identified in the blood of patients, months before clinical evidence of disease progression.

The molecular evolution of acquired resistance to targeted EGFR blockade in colorectal cancers ▶

Luis A. Diaz Jr, Richard T. Williams, Jian Wu, Isaac Kinde, J. Randolph Hecht et al.

This work on colorectal cancer shows that secondary mutations in KRAS that confer resistance to panitumumab, an anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody, are already present when antibody treatment begins; the apparent inevitability of resistance suggests that combinations of drugs targeting at least two different oncogenic pathway will be needed for treatment.

Autoregulation of microRNA biogenesis by let-7 and Argonaute ▶

Dimitrios G. Zisoulis, Zoya S. Kai, Roger K. Chang & Amy E. Pasquinelli

MicroRNA in worms is shown to target non-coding primary microRNA transcripts through interaction with the Argonaute protein, promoting the production of further microRNA and thus generating a positive-feedback loop.

Generalized Lévy walks and the role of chemokines in migration of effector CD8⁺ T cells ▶

Tajie H. Harris, Edward J. Banigan, David A. Christian, Christoph Konradt, Elia D. Tait Wojno et al.

T cells in the brains of Toxoplasma-infected mice are shown to move by Lévy-like walks.

PPAR-γ is a major driver of the accumulation and phenotype of adipose tissue T_reg cells ▶

Daniela Cipolletta, Markus Feuerer, Amy Li, Nozomu Kamei, Jongsoon Lee et al.

T regulatory (T_reg) cells in visceral adipose tissue express high levels of the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ, and fat-specific adaptation of T_reg cells is dependent on PPAR-γ.

Immune self-reactivity triggered by drug-modified HLA-peptide repertoire ▶

Patricia T. Illing, Julian P. Vivian, Nadine L. Dudek, Lyudmila Kostenko, Zhenjun Chen et al.

The paper describes the mechanism by which small-molecule drugs such as abacavir affect antigen presentation and consequently T-cell response in immunologically based drug reactions such as abacavir hypersensitivity syndrome (AHS) and carbamazepine-induced Stevens–Johnson syndrome (SJS).

News & Views

Ageing: A healthy diet for stem cells ▶

Fresnida J. Ramos & Matt Kaeberlein

Pharmacology: A false sense of non-self ▶

Ellis L. Reinherz

Neuroscience: Genes and human brain evolution ▶

Daniel H. Geschwind & Genevieve Konopka

Cancer: Pinprick diagnostics ▶

Eduardo Vilar & Josep Tabernero

Evolutionary physiology: A bone for all seasons ▶

Kevin Padian

Research Highlights

Palaeontology: Turtle sex recorded in rock | Developmental biology: Blood vessel directs cells | Ecology: One ring species to rule them all | Cell biology: p53 triggers cell death in stroke | Molecular biology: Protein crawls on chromosome

NEWS & COMMENT

A first step | Freeze on mutant-flu research set to thaw | California condors face lead menace | Model pigs face messy path | Fetal tests spur legal battle | Influenza: Five questions on H5N1 | Phylogeny: Rewriting evolution | Ecology: Save the Baltic Sea | Sustainable farming: Get pigs off antibiotics | Environment: Carson no 'beacon of reason' on DDT Tony Trewavas | Neuroscience: Help to survey the use of smart drugs Imre Bard & Ilina Singh | Tumours: Less lactation may explain cancer rise Anne Marie Oudesluys-Murphy | Sustainability: Limit consumption to preserve habitats Marco Sakai | Andrew Fielding Huxley (1917–2012)

CAREERS

Pay rise recommended

More Biological Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Organic chemistry: Reactions at the end of a tether ▶

Stefan Roesner & Varinder K. Aggarwal

Biophysical mechanism of T-cell receptor triggering in a reconstituted system ▶

John R. James & Ronald D. Vale

After introducing the T-cell receptor and other essential signalling genes, a non-immune cell is capable of displaying the early events of T-cell activation when placed in contact with antigen-presenting cells, and the initial signalling in this reconstituted system is shown to require the spatial reorganization of molecules at the cell interface.

Direct and highly regioselective and enantioselective allylation of β-diketones ▶

Wesley A. Chalifoux, Samuel K. Reznik & James L. Leighton

A simple, regioselective and enantioselective method for allylating β-diketones has been developed, significantly expanding the pool of easily accessible enantiomerically enriched and functionally complex tertiary carbinols.

Articles and Letters

Activation of remote meta-C–H bonds assisted by an end-on template ▶

Dasheng Leow, Gang Li, Tian-Sheng Mei & Jin-Quan Yu

Rapid synthesis of complex molecules via selective functionalization of unactivated carbon–hydrogen bonds is here made easier with the use of removable ‘templates’ that enable the activation of distal bonds.

Immune self-reactivity triggered by drug-modified HLA-peptide repertoire ▶

Patricia T. Illing, Julian P. Vivian, Nadine L. Dudek, Lyudmila Kostenko, Zhenjun Chen et al.

The paper describes the mechanism by which small-molecule drugs such as abacavir affect antigen presentation and consequently T-cell response in immunologically based drug reactions such as abacavir hypersensitivity syndrome (AHS) and carbamazepine-induced Stevens–Johnson syndrome (SJS).

News & Views

Organic chemistry: Directors extend their reach ▶

Matthew O. Kitching & Victor Snieckus

Organic chemistry: Reactions at the end of a tether ▶

Stefan Roesner & Varinder K. Aggarwal

More Chemical Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Atmospheric CO₂ forces abrupt vegetation shifts locally, but not globally ▶

Steven I. Higgins & Simon Scheiter

A model of the effects of climate change on African vegetation from 1850 to 2100 predicts increases in woody plant cover, but considerable heterogeneity in the timing of these shifts dampens the shock that these changes in land-surface properties may represent to the Earth system.

Articles and Letters

The signature of orbital motion from the dayside of the planet τ Boötis b ▶

Matteo Brogi, Ignas A. G. Snellen, Remco J. de Kok, Simon Albrecht, Jayne Birkby et al.

The detection of carbon monoxide absorption in the spectrum of the extrasolar planet τ Boötis b, and its tracing of the change in the radial velocity of the planet, demonstrates that atmospheric characterization is possible for non-transiting planets.

Magnetic tornadoes as energy channels into the solar corona ▶

Sven Wedemeyer-Böhm, Eamon Scullion, Oskar Steiner, Luc Rouppe van der Voort, Jaime de la Cruz Rodriguez et al.

Rotating magnetic structures in the Sun can channel energy outwards from the convection zone and may explain how the energy required to heat the outer layers of the Sun reaches its upper atmosphere.

The limits of the nuclear landscape ▶

Jochen Erler, Noah Birge, Markus Kortelainen, Witold Nazarewicz, Erik Olsen et al.

Nuclear density functional theory is used to calculate the uncertainty in the positions of the neutron and proton ‘drip lines’, and to estimate that there are around 7,000 bound nuclides containing between 2 and 120 protons.

Fractal morphology, imaging and mass spectrometry of single aerosol particles in flight ▶

N. D. Loh, C. Y. Hampton, A. V. Martin, D. Starodub, R. G. Sierra et al.

Intense, coherent X-ray pulses from a free-electron laser can be used to obtain high-resolution morphology of individual sub-micrometre particles in their native state, while at the same time their composition is analysed by mass spectrometry.

Generalized Lévy walks and the role of chemokines in migration of effector CD8⁺ T cells ▶

Tajie H. Harris, Edward J. Banigan, David A. Christian, Christoph Konradt, Elia D. Tait Wojno et al.

T cells in the brains of Toxoplasma-infected mice are shown to move by Lévy-like walks.

News & Views

Solar physics: Swirls in the corona ▶

Stephen J. Bradshaw

Brief Communications Arising

No inter-hemispheric δ¹³CH₄ trend observed ▶

I. Levin, C. Veidt, B. H. Vaughn, G. Brailsford, T. Bromley et al.

Kai, Tyler, Randerson & Blake reply ▶

Fuu Ming Kai, Stanley C. Tyler, James T. Randerson & Donald R. Blake

Research Highlights

Astronomy: Similar orbits but not densities | Photonics: Data travel on spiralled light | Climate change: Cyclones on the move

NEWS & COMMENT

Sea versus senators | Physics: A shining life | Cities: Metropolitan mash-up | Q&A: The sound catcher | Astronomy: Clue to an ancient cosmic-ray event? Jonathon Allen

More Physical Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Atmospheric CO₂ forces abrupt vegetation shifts locally, but not globally ▶

Steven I. Higgins & Simon Scheiter

A model of the effects of climate change on African vegetation from 1850 to 2100 predicts increases in woody plant cover, but considerable heterogeneity in the timing of these shifts dampens the shock that these changes in land-surface properties may represent to the Earth system.

Articles and Letters

Fractal morphology, imaging and mass spectrometry of single aerosol particles in flight ▶

N. D. Loh, C. Y. Hampton, A. V. Martin, D. Starodub, R. G. Sierra et al.

Intense, coherent X-ray pulses from a free-electron laser can be used to obtain high-resolution morphology of individual sub-micrometre particles in their native state, while at the same time their composition is analysed by mass spectrometry.

Three-dimensional limb joint mobility in the early tetrapod Ichthyostega ▶

Stephanie E. Pierce, Jennifer A. Clack & John R. Hutchinson

Three-dimensional reconstruction and modelling of limb joint mobility in the early tetrapod Ichthyostega is used to provide insights into an important step in vertebrate evolution—the transition from swimming to walking.

Brief Communications Arising

No inter-hemispheric δ¹³CH₄ trend observed ▶

I. Levin, C. Veidt, B. H. Vaughn, G. Brailsford, T. Bromley et al.

Kai, Tyler, Randerson & Blake reply ▶

Fuu Ming Kai, Stanley C. Tyler, James T. Randerson & Donald R. Blake

Research Highlights

Astronomy: Similar orbits but not densities | Planetary science: Carbon dioxide snow on Mars | Climate change: Cyclones on the move | Environmental science: Biodiverse and language-diverse

NEWS & COMMENT

Pig out | Wealth gap curbs Rio goals | Sea versus senators | California condors face lead menace | Ecology: Save the Baltic Sea | Environment: Carson no 'beacon of reason' on DDT Tony Trewavas | Sustainability: Limit consumption to preserve habitats Marco Sakai

More Earth & Environmental Sciences ▶

Grant applications: Find me the money ▶

Some consultants offer to help researchers to find and secure grants. But scientists should carefully consider whether and how a consultant is worth the time and expense.

Pay rise recommended ▶

US postdocs deserve increased compensation and benefits, says National Institutes of Health report.

Career paths mixed ▶

Most graduates from professional science master's programmes head to industry, says study.

Universities must evolve ▶

Graduate programmes focus too narrowly on academic careers, says US National Academies report.

Careers related news & comment

Wealth gap curbs Rio goals | Freeze on mutant-flu research set to thaw | Science at stake in Mexican election

Postdoc fellow

Indiana University School of Medicine 

PhD in Physical Organic Chemistry: Non-covalent interactions

School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh 

Postdocs in Evolutionary Biology

University of Konstanz - Germany 

Lecturer

King's College London 

International Conference and Exhibition on Orthopedics

13.-05.08.12 Chicago, US