nature

THIS WEEK

Editorials

Incidental benefits ▶

Scientists who screen the genes of volunteers for research should tell participants if they find information relevant to their health.

Flight risk ▶

As the campaign against animal research intensifies, so must the response.

Mass appeal ▶

As physicists close in on the Higgs boson, they should resist calls to change its name.

World View

Change the approach to sustainable development ▶

Conventional environmental assessments are not enough — it is time for some joined-up global thinking, says Mark Stafford Smith.

Seven Days

Seven days: 16–22 March 2012 ▶

The week in science: Neutrinos don't travel faster than light; China cracks down on research misconduct; and protest over Spanish science cuts.

NEWS IN FOCUS

Activists ground primate flights ▶

Supply of research monkeys to Western labs under threat as airlines react to animal-rights campaign.

Opioid receptors revealed ▶

Two more structures join the parade of once-intractable proteins.

Indian budget disappoints ▶

Downturn finally ends run of increases for science.

Clashing nations back SESAME ▶

Participants put politics aside to find cash for construction of Middle-East synchrotron.

DNA donor rights affirmed ▶

NIH committee urges that genome study subjects be told of medically relevant results.

Photonic chips made easier ▶

Shared-production system aids academics and start-ups.

Mice guide human drug trial ▶

Parallel approach to cancer study provides genetic insights.

Features

Prehistoric proteins: Raising the dead ▶

To dissect evolution, Joe Thornton resurrects proteins that have been extinct for many millions of years. His findings rebut creationists and challenge polluters.

Neuroscience: Making connections ▶

Is a project to map the brain’s full communications network worth the money?

COMMENT

Neuroscience: Observatories of the mind ▶

An ambitious project to map the mouse brain at the Allen Institute for Brain Science is a huge undertaking that may unify neuroscience, argue Christof Koch and R. Clay Reid.

Biodiversity: Think big for marine conservation ▶

Err on the side of caution and protect the widest-possible areas of ecologically important deep sea, say Phil Weaver and David Johnson.

Physics: A century of cosmic rays ▶

High-energy nuclei coming from far beyond the Solar System, and the exotic particles they produce, remain our best window onto the extreme Universe. Michael Friedlander reflects on what we have learned.

Books and Arts

Climate science: At the storm front ▶

Simon Lewis gets to grips with a climate scientist's account of a conflict that began with a graph.

Books in brief ▶

Nutrition: Chew on this ▶

Anthony King savours a surreally varied show on food, from glowing sushi to 1,001 uses for a pig carcass.

Q&A: The maths raconteur ▶

Barry Mazur, a mathematician at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has explored the literary side of mathematics. With the publication this month of Circles Disturbed, a collection of essays on mathematics and narrative that he edited with writer Apostolos Doxiadis, he talks about the overlapping realms of mathematics and the imagination.

Correspondence

Free press: Mixed media policies of US federal agencies James G. Dickinson | China: A cultural shift for science Keqian Xu | China: Philosophers sparked good science Jianxin Su & Cheng Lu | Conservation: Work together to crack wildlife trade Jacob Phelps, David P. Bickford & Edward L. Webb | Fracking: Colorado methane study not clear–cut Kathleen M. Sgamma

Obituary

Renato Dulbecco (1914–2012) ▶

Molecular biologist who proved that virus-derived genes can trigger cancer.

Correction

Correction ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Structure of the mitotic checkpoint complex ▶

William C. H. Chao, Kiran Kulkarni, Ziguo Zhang, Eric H. Kong & David Barford

The crystal structure of fission yeast mitotic checkpoint complex (MCC) reveals how MCC assembly is regulated and the molecular basis of anaphase-promoting complex (APC/C) inhibition by MCC.

Structure of the human κ-opioid receptor in complex with JDTic ▶

Huixian Wu, Daniel Wacker, Mauro Mileni, Vsevolod Katritch, Gye Won Han et al.

The crystal structure of the human κ-opioid receptor in complex with an antagonist, JDTic, is determined, with potential importance for the design of new therapeutic agents.

Crystal structure of the µ-opioid receptor bound to a morphinan antagonist ▶

Aashish Manglik, Andrew C. Kruse, Tong Sun Kobilka, Foon Sun Thian, Jesper M. Mathiesen et al.

The crystal structure of the mouse μ-opioid receptor bound to an antagonist is described, with possible implications for the future development of analgesics.

Role of corin in trophoblast invasion and uterine spiral artery remodelling in pregnancy ▶

Yujie Cui, Wei Wang, Ningzheng Dong, Jinglei Lou, Dinesh Kumar Srinivasan et al.

Pregnant corin- or ANP-deficient mice have impaired trophoblast invasion and uterine spiral artery remodelling, and patients with pre-eclampsia have lower uterine corin messenger RNA and protein levels than normal pregnancies, suggesting that defects in corin and ANP function may contribute to pre-eclampsia.

A new understanding of the decoding principle on the ribosome ▶

Natalia Demeshkina, Lasse Jenner, Eric Westhof, Marat Yusupov & Gulnara Yusupova

An integrated mechanism for decoding is proposed, based on six X-ray structures of the 70S ribosome determined at 3.1–3.4 Å resolution, modelling cognate or near-cognate states of the decoding centre at the proofreading step.

Transcription factor PIF4 controls the thermosensory activation of flowering ▶

S. Vinod Kumar, Doris Lucyshyn, Katja E. Jaeger, Enriqueta Alós, Elizabeth Alvey et al.

A novel mechanism by which warming temperatures can directly activate flowering in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

Teneurins instruct synaptic partner matching in an olfactory map ▶

Weizhe Hong, Timothy J. Mosca & Liqun Luo

Two members of the Teneurin transmembrane protein family are shown to control the synaptic partner matching in the Drosophila olfactory system.

Endospore abundance, microbial growth and necromass turnover in deep sub-seafloor sediment ▶

Bente Aa. Lomstein, Alice T. Langerhuus, Steven D’Hondt, Bo B. Jørgensen & Arthur J. Spivack

A new approach, the d:l-amino-acid model, is used to quantify the distributions and turnover times of living microbial biomass, endospores and microbial necromass, and to determine their role in the sub-seafloor carbon budget.

Wild-type microglia arrest pathology in a mouse model of Rett syndrome ▶

Noël C. Derecki, James C. Cronk, Zhenjie Lu, Eric Xu, Stephen B. G. Abbott et al.

Transplanting bone marrow from wild-type mice into MECP2-lacking mice results in wild-type microglial engraftment, extends lifespan and reduces symptoms of disease such as breathing and locomotor abnormalities, implicating microglia in the pathophysiology of Rett syndrome.

Notch-dependent VEGFR3 upregulation allows angiogenesis without VEGF–VEGFR2 signalling ▶

Rui Benedito, Susana F. Rocha, Marina Woeste, Martin Zamykal, Freddy Radtke et al.

DLL4–Notch signalling suppresses endothelial sprouting and angiogenic growth through crosstalk with the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway; VEGF receptor 2 has been thought to have a crucial role in this crosstalk, but now VEGF receptor 3 is shown to be the more important modulator.

MAP and kinesin-dependent nuclear positioning is required for skeletal muscle function ▶

Thomas Metzger, Vincent Gache, Mu Xu, Bruno Cadot, Eric S. Folker et al.

Skeletal muscle cells are multinucleate, and improper positioning of the nuclei contributes to muscle dysfunction.

Trans-synaptic Teneurin signalling in neuromuscular synapse organization and target choice ▶

Timothy J. Mosca, Weizhe Hong, Vardhan S. Dani, Vincenzo Favaloro & Liqun Luo

Two Drosophila Teneurin proteins, Ten-m and Ten-a, are shown to be required for neuromuscular synapse organization and target selection.

Small-molecule inhibitors of the AAA+ ATPase motor cytoplasmic dynein ▶

Ari J. Firestone, Joshua S. Weinger, Maria Maldonado, Kari Barlan, Lance D. Langston et al.

A family of small molecules called ‘ciliobrevins’ are described that can rapidly and reversibly modulate the AAA+ ATPase motor dynein, which transports cargo molecules along microtubule tracks.

A murine lung cancer co-clinical trial identifies genetic modifiers of therapeutic response ▶

Zhao Chen, Katherine Cheng, Zandra Walton, Yuchuan Wang, Hiromichi Ebi et al.

In parallel with an ongoing human clinical trial, genetically engineered mouse models of lung cancer with different genetic alterations are treated chemotherapeutic agents; the results have implications for the clinical trial.

Articles and Letters

Suppression of the antiviral response by an influenza histone mimic ▶

Ivan Marazzi, Jessica S. Y. Ho, Jaehoon Kim, Balaji Manicassamy, Scott Dewell et al.

The H3N2 influenza virus immunomodulatory protein NS1 carries a sequence that mimics the histone H3 tail; this sequence interferes with the host antiviral response via binding to the cellular regulator of RNA elongation, hPAF1C.

Intrinsic coupling of lagging-strand synthesis to chromatin assembly ▶

Duncan J. Smith & Iestyn Whitehouse

Genome-wide deep sequencing of Okazaki fragments in S. cerevisae reveals a connection between lagging-strand synthesis and chromatin assembly.

Large-scale vortex lattice emerging from collectively moving microtubules ▶

Yutaka Sumino, Ken H. Nagai, Yuji Shitaka, Dan Tanaka, Kenichi Yoshikawa et al.

Emergent collective behaviour is observed in dynein-driven microtubules and modelled by taking into account only local interactions and the reptation-like motion of individual microtubules.

Adaptive radiation of multituberculate mammals before the extinction of dinosaurs ▶

Gregory P. Wilson, Alistair R. Evans, Ian J. Corfe, Peter D. Smits, Mikael Fortelius et al.

Adaptive radiation of Mesozoic-era multituberculate mammals began at least 20 million years before the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs and continued across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary—probably as a result of dietary expansion towards herbivory during the ecological rise of angiosperms—and is supported by increases in generic richness and disparity in dental complexity and body size.

A comparative analysis of the evolution of imperfect mimicry ▶

Heather D. Penney, Christopher Hassall, Jeffrey H. Skevington, Kevin R. Abbott & Thomas N. Sherratt

In hoverflies with a small body size, even imperfect Batesian mimicry suffices to limit predation because they are not subject to particularly intense selection.

MEGF10 and MEGF11 mediate homotypic interactions required for mosaic spacing of retinal neurons ▶

Jeremy N. Kay, Monica W. Chu & Joshua R. Sanes

The related transmembrane proteins MEGF10 and MEGF11 are shown to have critical roles in the formation of mosaic arrangements in the retina.

Control of ground-state pluripotency by allelic regulation of Nanog ▶

Yusuke Miyanari & Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla

Tight regulation of Nanog dose at the chromosome level is important for the acquisition of pluripotency during development.

IDH mutation impairs histone demethylation and results in a block to cell differentiation ▶

Chao Lu, Patrick S. Ward, Gurpreet S. Kapoor, Dan Rohle, Sevin Turcan et al.

Cancer-associated IDH mutants that produce 2-hydroxyglutarate are shown to prevent the histone demethylation that is required for lineage-specific progenitor cells to differentiate into terminally differentiated cells.

IDH1 mutation is sufficient to establish the glioma hypermethylator phenotype ▶

Sevin Turcan, Daniel Rohle, Anuj Goenka, Logan A. Walsh, Fang Fang et al.

Mutation of isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) is shown to induce DNA hypermethylation and to remodel the epigenome to resemble that of gliomas with the CpG island methylator phenotype.

Transformation by the (R)-enantiomer of 2-hydroxyglutarate linked to EGLN activation ▶

Peppi Koivunen, Sungwoo Lee, Christopher G. Duncan, Giselle Lopez, Gang Lu et al.

The (R)-enantiomer of 2-hydroxyglutarate, which is produced when IDH is mutated in human tumours, is shown to stimulate the activity of the EGLN prolyl 4-hydroxylases, leading to diminished levels of HIF and enhanced human astrocyte proliferation.

Crystal structure of a concentrative nucleoside transporter from Vibrio cholerae at 2.4 Å ▶

Zachary Lee Johnson, Cheom-Gil Cheong & Seok-Yong Lee

The X-ray crystal structure of a bacterial concentrative nucleoside transporter reveals the overall architecture of this class of transporter and provides a framework for understanding how nucleosides and nucleoside-derived drugs traverse cell membranes.

Identification and characterization of a bacterial hydrosulphide ion channel ▶

Bryan K. Czyzewski & Da-Neng Wang

A channel for the transport of hydrosulphide ions in Clostridium difficile is identified and shown to be polyspecific, being a member of the formate/nitrite transporter family.

News & Views

Evolutionary biology: Life imperfectly imitates life ▶

David W. Pfennig & David W. Kikuchi

Biological physics: Swarming microtubules ▶

Tamás Vicsek

Molecular biology: How to duplicate a DNA package ▶

Alysia Vandenberg & Geneviève Almouzni

Virology: Influenza's tale of tails ▶

Alexei L. Krasnoselsky & Michael G. Katze

Neurodegeneration: Trouble in the cell's powerhouse ▶

Derek P. Narendra & Richard J. Youle

Corrigendum

Corrigendum: Functional complementation between FADD and RIP1 in embryos and lymphocytes ▶

Haibing Zhang, Xiaohui Zhou, Thomas McQuade, Jinghe Li, Francis Ka-Ming Chan et al.

Research Highlights

Bioengineering: A pulsating gut on a chip | Zoology: All the better to see whales with | Microbiology: Bacteria signal to survive | Evolution: No sweetness for meat-eaters | Behavioural Science: Testosterone hinders collaboration

NEWS & COMMENT

Incidental benefits | Flight risk | Change the approach to sustainable development | Activists ground primate flights | Opioid receptors revealed | DNA donor rights affirmed | Mice guide human drug trial | Prehistoric proteins: Raising the dead | Neuroscience: Making connections | Neuroscience: Observatories of the mind | Biodiversity: Think big for marine conservation | Books in brief | Nutrition: Chew on this | Renato Dulbecco (1914–2012)

More Biological Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Crystal structure of the µ-opioid receptor bound to a morphinan antagonist ▶

Aashish Manglik, Andrew C. Kruse, Tong Sun Kobilka, Foon Sun Thian, Jesper M. Mathiesen et al.

The crystal structure of the mouse μ-opioid receptor bound to an antagonist is described, with possible implications for the future development of analgesics.

A new understanding of the decoding principle on the ribosome ▶

Natalia Demeshkina, Lasse Jenner, Eric Westhof, Marat Yusupov & Gulnara Yusupova

An integrated mechanism for decoding is proposed, based on six X-ray structures of the 70S ribosome determined at 3.1–3.4 Å resolution, modelling cognate or near-cognate states of the decoding centre at the proofreading step.

Small-molecule inhibitors of the AAA+ ATPase motor cytoplasmic dynein ▶

Ari J. Firestone, Joshua S. Weinger, Maria Maldonado, Kari Barlan, Lance D. Langston et al.

A family of small molecules called ‘ciliobrevins’ are described that can rapidly and reversibly modulate the AAA+ ATPase motor dynein, which transports cargo molecules along microtubule tracks.

Articles and Letters

Quantum plasmon resonances of individual metallic nanoparticles ▶

Jonathan A. Scholl, Ai Leen Koh & Jennifer A. Dionne

Metal nanoparticles with dimensions below ten nanometres exhibit plasmon resonances governed by quantum mechanical effects, as probed with electron microscopy and spectroscopy

Suppression of the antiviral response by an influenza histone mimic ▶

Ivan Marazzi, Jessica S. Y. Ho, Jaehoon Kim, Balaji Manicassamy, Scott Dewell et al.

The H3N2 influenza virus immunomodulatory protein NS1 carries a sequence that mimics the histone H3 tail; this sequence interferes with the host antiviral response via binding to the cellular regulator of RNA elongation, hPAF1C.

Intrinsic coupling of lagging-strand synthesis to chromatin assembly ▶

Duncan J. Smith & Iestyn Whitehouse

Genome-wide deep sequencing of Okazaki fragments in S. cerevisae reveals a connection between lagging-strand synthesis and chromatin assembly.

Transformation by the (R)-enantiomer of 2-hydroxyglutarate linked to EGLN activation ▶

Peppi Koivunen, Sungwoo Lee, Christopher G. Duncan, Giselle Lopez, Gang Lu et al.

The (R)-enantiomer of 2-hydroxyglutarate, which is produced when IDH is mutated in human tumours, is shown to stimulate the activity of the EGLN prolyl 4-hydroxylases, leading to diminished levels of HIF and enhanced human astrocyte proliferation.

Crystal structure of a concentrative nucleoside transporter from Vibrio cholerae at 2.4 Å ▶

Zachary Lee Johnson, Cheom-Gil Cheong & Seok-Yong Lee

The X-ray crystal structure of a bacterial concentrative nucleoside transporter reveals the overall architecture of this class of transporter and provides a framework for understanding how nucleosides and nucleoside-derived drugs traverse cell membranes.

Identification and characterization of a bacterial hydrosulphide ion channel ▶

Bryan K. Czyzewski & Da-Neng Wang

A channel for the transport of hydrosulphide ions in Clostridium difficile is identified and shown to be polyspecific, being a member of the formate/nitrite transporter family.

News & Views

Molecular biology: How to duplicate a DNA package ▶

Alysia Vandenberg & Geneviève Almouzni

Microscopy: Plasmons go quantum ▶

F. Javier García de Abajo

Research Highlights

Chemistry: Hydrogen can be stored as acid

NEWS & COMMENT

Opioid receptors revealed | Nutrition: Chew on this

More Chemical Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Quantum optics: An entangled walk of photons ▶

Jonathan C. F. Matthews & Mark G. Thompson

Spontaneous coherence in a cold exciton gas ▶

A. A. High, J. R. Leonard, A. T. Hammack, M. M. Fogler, L. V. Butov et al.

In theory, excitons can form a coherent state like a Bose–Einstein condensate, but this is difficult to produce; it is now shown that spontaneous coherence, characteristic of a condensate, can occur in a cold exciton gas.

Articles and Letters

Quantum plasmon resonances of individual metallic nanoparticles ▶

Jonathan A. Scholl, Ai Leen Koh & Jennifer A. Dionne

Metal nanoparticles with dimensions below ten nanometres exhibit plasmon resonances governed by quantum mechanical effects, as probed with electron microscopy and spectroscopy

Resonant quantum transitions in trapped antihydrogen atoms ▶

C. Amole, M. D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, P. D. Bowe et al.

These authors demonstrate resonant quantum transitions in a pure antimatter atom—antihydrogen—by using microwave radiation to flip the spin of the positron of an anti-atom in a magnetic trap, thus ejecting the anti-atom.

Electron tomography at 2.4-ångström resolution ▶

M. C. Scott, Chien-Chun Chen, Matthew Mecklenburg, Chun Zhu, Rui Xu et al.

An electron tomography method is demonstrated that can determine the three-dimensional structure of a gold nanoparticle at 2.4 Å resolution, including the locations of some of the individual atoms within the sample.

Large-scale vortex lattice emerging from collectively moving microtubules ▶

Yutaka Sumino, Ken H. Nagai, Yuji Shitaka, Dan Tanaka, Kenichi Yoshikawa et al.

Emergent collective behaviour is observed in dynein-driven microtubules and modelled by taking into account only local interactions and the reptation-like motion of individual microtubules.

Collapse of polar ice sheets during the stage 11 interglacial ▶

Maureen E. Raymo & Jerry X. Mitrovica

The magnitude of sea level rise during marine isotope stage 11 (about 400,000 years ago) is shown to have been probably only 6 to 13 metres, in contrast to some earlier estimates of up to 20 metres.

News & Views

Biological physics: Swarming microtubules ▶

Tamás Vicsek

Geochemistry: Bubbles from the deep ▶

Henrik Svensen

Microscopy: Plasmons go quantum ▶

F. Javier García de Abajo

Quantum optics: An entangled walk of photons ▶

Jonathan C. F. Matthews & Mark G. Thompson

Research Highlights

Bioengineering: A pulsating gut on a chip | Materials: Slicing silicon with less waste | Climate modelling: Predicting realistic rains | Climate change: Coming surge in storm surges

NEWS & COMMENT

Mass appeal | Photonic chips made easier | Physics: A century of cosmic rays | Climate science: At the storm front | Books in brief

CAREERS

Postdoc or not? | Turning point: Jessica Hellman | NASA to award grants

More Physical Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Endospore abundance, microbial growth and necromass turnover in deep sub-seafloor sediment ▶

Bente Aa. Lomstein, Alice T. Langerhuus, Steven D’Hondt, Bo B. Jørgensen & Arthur J. Spivack

A new approach, the d:l-amino-acid model, is used to quantify the distributions and turnover times of living microbial biomass, endospores and microbial necromass, and to determine their role in the sub-seafloor carbon budget.

Articles and Letters

Collapse of polar ice sheets during the stage 11 interglacial ▶

Maureen E. Raymo & Jerry X. Mitrovica

The magnitude of sea level rise during marine isotope stage 11 (about 400,000 years ago) is shown to have been probably only 6 to 13 metres, in contrast to some earlier estimates of up to 20 metres.

Adaptive radiation of multituberculate mammals before the extinction of dinosaurs ▶

Gregory P. Wilson, Alistair R. Evans, Ian J. Corfe, Peter D. Smits, Mikael Fortelius et al.

Adaptive radiation of Mesozoic-era multituberculate mammals began at least 20 million years before the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs and continued across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary—probably as a result of dietary expansion towards herbivory during the ecological rise of angiosperms—and is supported by increases in generic richness and disparity in dental complexity and body size.

News & Views

Geochemistry: Bubbles from the deep ▶

Henrik Svensen

Research Highlights

Climate modelling: Predicting realistic rains | Climate change: Coming surge in storm surges

NEWS & COMMENT

Change the approach to sustainable development | Prehistoric proteins: Raising the dead | Climate science: At the storm front | Books in brief | Fracking: Colorado methane study not clear–cut Kathleen M. Sgamma

CAREERS

Turning point: Jessica Hellman

More Earth & Environmental Sciences ▶

Postdoc or not? ▶

Life-sciences graduates interested in academic research typically need to do at least one postdoc. For physics students, there are multiple caveats to consider.

Turning point: Jessica Hellman ▶

Climate scientist guides lab in devising mission statement and 'branding' its research.

Stress survey ▶

Striving for work-life balance can take its toll on your career.

Increasing salaries ▶

US faculty members at doctoral institutions see bigger raises this year.

NASA to award grants ▶

Space-technology programme targets early-career researchers

Careers related news & comment

Activists ground primate flights

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

University of Michigan 

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cardiovascular Development or Cellular Electrophysiology

Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School 

Postdoctoral Fellowships

Wellcome Trust 

Postdoctoral Research Assistant

Queen Mary, University of London Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry 

6th European Forum for Qualified Person for Pharmacovigilance (QPPV)

24.-26.04.12 London, UK