nature

THIS WEEK

Editorials

Buyer beware ▶

An investigation by Nature shows the scale of the market for unapproved stem-cell therapies in China. Hype and unrealistic hope must not be allowed to undermine genuine promise.

Honest work ▶

The plagiarism police deserve thanks for defending the honour of the PhD.

World View

Scientists and bankers — a new model army ▶

Bankers must now surrender more information on their activities. Scientists should use it to build better system-wide financial models, says John Liechty.

Seven Days

Seven days: 6–12 April 2012 ▶

The week in science: Malaria drug resistance spreading; anti-doping scientist resigns over confidentiality clauses; and the GM 'Enviropig' is off the menu.

NEWS IN FOCUS

China's stem-cell rules go unheeded ▶

Health ministry's attempt at regulation has had little effect.

Post-mortem on mutant flu ▶

Virus papers get green light but controversy highlights lack of global rules on biosafety.

Slow progress to cleaner coal ▶

China moves forward with demonstration power plant as United Kingdom revives carbon-capture programme.

Roche chases stake in medical sequencing ▶

Biotech firm Illumina continues to resist takeover — but analysts suggest that a merger is inevitable.

Dreams of water on Mars evaporate ▶

Climate models reveal the red planet was mostly cold and dry.

Giant telescope may get two homes ▶

Split-site solution could allow both Australia and South Africa to host parts of the Square Kilometre Array.

Feature

Children of the 90s: Coming of age ▶

Researchers in Britain have tracked thousands of children since their birth in the 1990s. Now the study is 21, and turning to the next generation.

COMMENT

Policy: Bold strategies for Indian science ▶

For a nation of its talent and education, India deserves higher scientific standing. It needs clear and honest leadership, not more money, says Gautam R. Desiraju.

Policy: Cleaning China's air ▶

To reduce airborne soot, organics and sulphates, tailored strategies for each must be established and coal use limited, say Qiang Zhang, Kebin He and Hong Huo.

Books and Arts

Q&A: The playful dramatist ▶

Author and playwright Michael Frayn explores the wellsprings of creativity through farce, philosophy and the history of science. His eclectic output ranges from non-fiction books such as The Human Touch (2006) to plays including Noises Off (1982) and Copenhagen (1998) — which explores the 1941 meeting between quantum physicists Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, with Frayn imagining their discussions on the morality of working on nuclear weapons. With his latest novel, Skios, coming out next month, he talks about determinism and the paradox of existence.

In retrospect: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions ▶

David Kaiser marks the 50th anniversary of an exemplary account of the cycles of scientific progress.

Books in brief ▶

Correspondence

Primate studies: Hear the public's views Lawrence A. Hansen | Primate studies: Fix welfare issues first Crystal Miller-Spiegel | Primate studies: Trials don't always translate Michelle Thew | Particle physics: Higgs can claim name of massive boson Frank Close | Government: More credit due to India's scientists Jagadeesh Bayry

Obituary

F. Sherwood Rowland (1927–2012) ▶

Atmospheric chemist who linked human activity to ozone depletion.

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Clusters of iron-rich cells in the upper beak of pigeons are macrophages not magnetosensitive neurons ▶

Christoph Daniel Treiber, Marion Claudia Salzer, Johannes Riegler, Nathaniel Edelman, Cristina Sugar et al.

Birds have been thought to have a magnetic sensing system consisting of magnetite-containing dendrites in the upper beak; a comprehensive anatomical characterization in pigeons now shows that the iron-rich cells in the beak are in fact macrophages not magnetosensitive neurons.

Spatial partitioning of the regulatory landscape of the X-inactivation centre ▶

Elphège P. Nora, Bryan R. Lajoie, Edda G. Schulz, Luca Giorgetti, Ikuhiro Okamoto et al.

High-order chromatin folding in topologically associating domains has a critical role in proper long-range transcriptional control around the Xist locus, and presumably throughout the genome.

Topological domains in mammalian genomes identified by analysis of chromatin interactions ▶

Jesse R. Dixon, Siddarth Selvaraj, Feng Yue, Audrey Kim, Yan Li et al.

The three-dimensional organization of the human and mouse genomes in embryonic stem cells and terminally differentiated cell types is investigated, revealing that large, megabase-sized chromatin interaction domains are a pervasive and conserved structural feature of genome organization.

An inverse relationship to germline transcription defines centromeric chromatin in C. elegans ▶

Reto Gassmann, Andreas Rechtsteiner, Karen W. Yuen, Andrew Muroyama, Thea Egelhofer et al.

Centromere identity is thought to be epigenetically propagated by stable inheritance of nucleosomes containing the histone variant CENP-A; the authors propose a different model here in which germline transcription defines the genomic regions that exclude CENP-A incorporation during embryogenesis in the holocentric worm Caenorhabditis elegans.

Inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor regulates hepatic gluconeogenesis in fasting and diabetes ▶

Yiguo Wang, Gang Li, Jason Goode, Jose C. Paz, Kunfu Ouyang et al.

Interactions between cyclic AMP and calcium signalling pathways mediated by the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor are shown to regulate hepatic gluconeogenesis in fasting and diabetes.

Systematic discovery of structural elements governing stability of mammalian messenger RNAs ▶

Hani Goodarzi, Hamed S. Najafabadi, Panos Oikonomou, Todd M. Greco, Lisa Fish et al.

Secondary structures, or pairing of complementary sequences within RNA, can regulate the binding of proteins that affect transcript stability, splicing, localization, and translation; a computational approach has now been used to discover secondary structures that affect global RNA stability through the binding of specific RNA binding proteins.

Articles and Letters

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.

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.

Structural basis of ultraviolet-B perception by UVR8 ▶

Di Wu, Qi Hu, Zhen Yan, Wen Chen, Chuangye Yan et al.

The X-ray crystal structure of ultraviolet-B-sensing protein UVR8 is determined, revealing that, unlike other known photoreceptors, the chromophore is not an external cofactor but rather two amino acids.

Adaptation at the output of the chemotaxis signalling pathway ▶

Junhua Yuan, Richard W. Branch, Basarab G. Hosu & Howard C. Berg

The motor driving cells during chemotaxis is very sensitive to levels of CheY-P, a signalling protein; counter-intuitively, the motor is tuned to the cells’ output of CheY-P by adjusting the number of CheY-P receptors in the motor, thereby increasing or decreasing the motor’s sensitivity to CheY-P.

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.

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.

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.

Genome-wide protein–DNA binding dynamics suggest a molecular clutch for transcription factor function ▶

Colin R. Lickwar, Florian Mueller, Sean E. Hanlon, James G. McNally & Jason D. Lieb

Competition ChIP with a sequence-specific S. cerevisiae transcription factor, Rap1, reveals that long Rap1 residence is coupled to transcriptional activation, whereas fast binding turnover is linked to low transcriptional output, suggesting that DNA-binding events that appear identical by conventional ChIP may have different underlying modes of interaction, leading to opposing functional outcomes.

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.

Telomerase RNA biogenesis involves sequential binding by Sm and Lsm complexes ▶

Wen Tang, Ram Kannan, Marco Blanchette & Peter Baumann

Two complexes of RNA-binding proteins, Sm and Lsm2–8, act sequentially on telomerase RNA during its biogenesis: the Sm ring promotes 3′-cleavage and facilitates hypermethylation of the 5′-cap, whereas the Lsm2–8 complex aids binding of the telomerase catalytic subunit and prevents degradation of the RNA.

Visualizing molecular juggling within a B₁₂-dependent methyltransferase complex ▶

Yan Kung, Nozomi Ando, Tzanko I. Doukov, Leah C. Blasiak, Güneş Bender et al.

The first three-dimensional description of all the protein modules required for the activation, protection and catalytic steps of B₁₂-dependent methyl transfer.

Reviews and Perspectives

Emerging fungal threats to animal, plant and ecosystem health ▶

Matthew C. Fisher, Daniel. A. Henk, Cheryl J. Briggs, John S. Brownstein, Lawrence C. Madoff et al.

Pathogenic fungi are increasingly contributing to the global emerging disease burden, threatening biodiversity and imposing increasing costs on ecosystem health, hence steps must be taken to tighten biosecurity worldwide to reduce the rate of fungal disease emergence.

News & Views

Gene expression: Running to stand still ▶

Tommy Kaplan & Nir Friedman

Microbiology: Adaptation by target remodelling ▶

Gerald L. Hazelbauer

Research Highlights

Ecology: A look at backyard biodiversity | Animal behaviour: Licking ants fight fungal infection | Molecular biology: MicroRNAs boost gene variation | Genetics: Fewer imprinted genes at re-count | Molecular imaging: Follow the lymph vessels | Zoology: Vision with no nervous system | Cancer: Small, cancer-resistant mice

NEWS & COMMENT

Buyer beware | China's stem-cell rules go unheeded | Post-mortem on mutant flu | Roche chases stake in medical sequencing | Children of the 90s: Coming of age | Books in brief | Primate studies: Fix welfare issues first Crystal Miller-Spiegel | Primate studies: Trials don't always translate Michelle Thew

More Biological Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor regulates hepatic gluconeogenesis in fasting and diabetes ▶

Yiguo Wang, Gang Li, Jason Goode, Jose C. Paz, Kunfu Ouyang et al.

Interactions between cyclic AMP and calcium signalling pathways mediated by the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor are shown to regulate hepatic gluconeogenesis in fasting and diabetes.

Systematic discovery of structural elements governing stability of mammalian messenger RNAs ▶

Hani Goodarzi, Hamed S. Najafabadi, Panos Oikonomou, Todd M. Greco, Lisa Fish et al.

Secondary structures, or pairing of complementary sequences within RNA, can regulate the binding of proteins that affect transcript stability, splicing, localization, and translation; a computational approach has now been used to discover secondary structures that affect global RNA stability through the binding of specific RNA binding proteins.

Articles and Letters

Structural basis of ultraviolet-B perception by UVR8 ▶

Di Wu, Qi Hu, Zhen Yan, Wen Chen, Chuangye Yan et al.

The X-ray crystal structure of ultraviolet-B-sensing protein UVR8 is determined, revealing that, unlike other known photoreceptors, the chromophore is not an external cofactor but rather two amino acids.

Genome-wide protein–DNA binding dynamics suggest a molecular clutch for transcription factor function ▶

Colin R. Lickwar, Florian Mueller, Sean E. Hanlon, James G. McNally & Jason D. Lieb

Competition ChIP with a sequence-specific S. cerevisiae transcription factor, Rap1, reveals that long Rap1 residence is coupled to transcriptional activation, whereas fast binding turnover is linked to low transcriptional output, suggesting that DNA-binding events that appear identical by conventional ChIP may have different underlying modes of interaction, leading to opposing functional outcomes.

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.

Telomerase RNA biogenesis involves sequential binding by Sm and Lsm complexes ▶

Wen Tang, Ram Kannan, Marco Blanchette & Peter Baumann

Two complexes of RNA-binding proteins, Sm and Lsm2–8, act sequentially on telomerase RNA during its biogenesis: the Sm ring promotes 3′-cleavage and facilitates hypermethylation of the 5′-cap, whereas the Lsm2–8 complex aids binding of the telomerase catalytic subunit and prevents degradation of the RNA.

Visualizing molecular juggling within a B₁₂-dependent methyltransferase complex ▶

Yan Kung, Nozomi Ando, Tzanko I. Doukov, Leah C. Blasiak, Güneş Bender et al.

The first three-dimensional description of all the protein modules required for the activation, protection and catalytic steps of B₁₂-dependent methyl transfer.

Reviews and Perspectives

High-valent organometallic copper and palladium in catalysis ▶

Amanda J. Hickman & Melanie S. Sanford

Advances in the chemistry of high-oxidation-state copper and palladium demonstrate their great potential as catalysts.

News & Views

Gene expression: Running to stand still ▶

Tommy Kaplan & Nir Friedman

Microbiology: Adaptation by target remodelling ▶

Gerald L. Hazelbauer

NEWS & COMMENT

Policy: Cleaning China's air | F. Sherwood Rowland (1927–2012)

More Chemical Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Thermal and electrical conductivity of iron at Earth’s core conditions ▶

Monica Pozzo, Chris Davies, David Gubbins & Dario Alfè

First principles calculations of the thermal and electrical conductivities of liquid iron mixtures under Earth's core conditions suggest a relatively high adiabatic heat flux of 15 to16 terawatts at the core–mantle boundary, indicating that the top of the core must be thermally stratified.

Articles and Letters

An elementary quantum network of single atoms in optical cavities ▶

Stephan Ritter, Christian Nölleke, Carolin Hahn, Andreas Reiserer, Andreas Neuzner et al.

Single atoms in optical cavities in two separate laboratories are the nodes of an elementary quantum network, in which quantum information is distributed via the controlled emission and absorption of single photons.

A close halo of large transparent grains around extreme red giant stars ▶

Barnaby R. M. Norris, Peter G. Tuthill, Michael J. Ireland, Sylvestre Lacour, Albert A. Zijlstra et al.

The dust shells of three intermediate-mass stars are observed to lie remarkably close to the photosphere and to be composed of unexpectedly large grains, consistent with mass loss from such stars occurring by means of ejection of this dust by photon scattering rather than as a result of radiation pressure.

Layered boron nitride as a release layer for mechanical transfer of GaN-based devices ▶

Yasuyuki Kobayashi, Kazuhide Kumakura, Tetsuya Akasaka & Toshiki Makimoto

Introducing an extremely thin layer of boron nitride between a sapphire substrate and the gallium nitride semiconductor grown on it is shown to facilitate the transfer of the resulting nitride structures to more flexible and affordable substrates.

Aerosols implicated as a prime driver of twentieth-century North Atlantic climate variability ▶

Ben B. B. Booth, Nick J. Dunstone, Paul R. Halloran, Timothy Andrews & Nicolas Bellouin

A state-of-the-art climate model shows that radiative forcing due to anthropogenic and volcanic aerosols explains the variability in sea surface temperature of the North Atlantic between 1950 and 2005.

News & Views

Climate science: Aerosols and Atlantic aberrations ▶

Amato Evan

Astrophysics: Fresh light on stardust ▶

Susanne Höfner

100 years ago: The loss of the “Titanic” ▶

Research Highlights

Nanotechnology: Lasers sort particles by size | Materials: A graphene window on liquids

NEWS & COMMENT

Slow progress to cleaner coal | Dreams of water on Mars evaporate | Giant telescope may get two homes | Policy: Cleaning China's air | Q&A: The playful dramatist | Particle physics: Higgs can claim name of massive boson Frank Close | F. Sherwood Rowland (1927–2012)

CAREERS

Rating research risk

More Physical Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Thermal and electrical conductivity of iron at Earth’s core conditions ▶

Monica Pozzo, Chris Davies, David Gubbins & Dario Alfè

First principles calculations of the thermal and electrical conductivities of liquid iron mixtures under Earth's core conditions suggest a relatively high adiabatic heat flux of 15 to16 terawatts at the core–mantle boundary, indicating that the top of the core must be thermally stratified.

Articles and Letters

Aerosols implicated as a prime driver of twentieth-century North Atlantic climate variability ▶

Ben B. B. Booth, Nick J. Dunstone, Paul R. Halloran, Timothy Andrews & Nicolas Bellouin

A state-of-the-art climate model shows that radiative forcing due to anthropogenic and volcanic aerosols explains the variability in sea surface temperature of the North Atlantic between 1950 and 2005.

News & Views

Climate science: Aerosols and Atlantic aberrations ▶

Amato Evan

Research Highlights

Geology: Hot tuff not so tough

NEWS & COMMENT

Slow progress to cleaner coal | Dreams of water on Mars evaporate | Policy: Cleaning China's air | F. Sherwood Rowland (1927–2012)

More Earth & Environmental Sciences ▶

Proteomics: The interaction map ▶

As increasing numbers of protein–protein interactions are identified, researchers are finding ways to interrogate these data and understand the interactions in a relevant context. 

Multiple sclerosis ▶

Herb Brody

Aetiology: The X factor ▶

Researchers have plenty of theories about what might cause multiple sclerosis. But for now, the factor that triggers the disease remains elusive. 

Genomics: A complex code ▶

More than 100 variations in the genome have been linked to multiple sclerosis. Researchers are now trying to find the overlap with other auto-immune conditions, and understand how environmental factors interact with genes to trigger disease. 

Drugs: An injection of hope ▶

For decades, drugs have barely managed to slow the progression of multiple sclerosis. Therapies are now emerging that may even help to reverse the disease — but are they worth the risk? 

Stem cells: Don't believe the hype ▶

Researchers are still a long way from using stem cells to halt the decline caused by multiple sclerosis and to restore patients' health. But they are following some promising trails. 

Perspective: Deconstructing a disease ▶

A slew of new data suggests that it is time to rethink and reclassify autoimmune disease, says David A. Hafler. 

Diagnostics: Getting a clear picture ▶

Technologies that better reveal the insidious progression of multiple sclerosis could aid the search for treatments. 

Perspective: Let the sunshine in! ▶

Population and genetic studies are confirming the link between multiple sclerosis and vitamin D, says Richard Ransohoff. 

Animal models: Not close enough ▶

Despite some outstanding drug-development successes, the mouse version of multiple sclerosis has been worryingly unreliable at screening human treatments. 

Progressive multiple sclerosis: The treatment gap ▶

Most new treatments for multiple sclerosis are for patients with the relapsing–remitting form of the disease. Those with the more advanced, progressive type are being left behind. 

Alternative therapies: Desperate measures ▶

Worms? Stents? Bee stings? Patients with multiple sclerosis who exhaust conventional therapies are turning in desperation to unproven approaches. 

Innovation: The big idea of technology transfer ▶

Working at the interface between science and business offers an opportunity to bring ideas to market.

Rating research risk ▶

Too many young physicists embark on projects without knowing the risks. There is a better way, argues Abraham Loeb.

Careers related news & comment

Scientists and bankers — a new model army | Slow progress to cleaner coal | Roche chases stake in medical sequencing | Primate studies: Hear the public's views Lawrence A. Hansen | Government: More credit due to India's scientists Jagadeesh Bayry

Academic Posts

University of Aberdeen 

Endowed Professorship in Experimental and Clinical Cell Therapy

The Paracelsus Medical University 

Post-doctoral Training Fellow - Molecular Pathology

The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) 

Open Rank Faculty Position / Heart Failure / Heart Transplantation program

Division of Cardiovascular Disease/The University of Alabama at Birmingham 

Genomic Epidemiology of Malaria 2012

10.-13.06.12 Cambridge, UK