nature

THIS WEEK

Editorials

Brain fog ▶

The criticism of Europe’s Human Brain Project by leading scientists reflects a messy management structure that is in urgent need of clear direction.

Barriers to trust ▶

An outbreak of Ebola highlights the difficulties of implementing public-health measures.

Be concerned ▶

A possible link between neonicotinoid pesticide use and a decline in bird numbers is worrying.

World View

Not all plagiarism requires a retraction ▶

Papers that plagiarize only text can still contribute to the literature, but any errors or omissions should be prominently corrected, says Praveen Chaddah.

Seven Days

Seven days: 4–10 July 2014 ▶

The week in science: NASA launches carbon-tracking satellite; European particle accelerators funded; and gloom over Caribbean coral reefs.

NEWS IN FOCUS

Row hits flagship brain plan ▶

Changes in scope and focus of European project anger factions of neuroscience community.

India races through environmental approvals ▶

But ecologists worry that fast turnaround will do nothing to improve quality of assessments.

Survey probes volcano’s depths ▶

Seismic project aims to reveal plumbing of Mount St Helens.

Biotech reels over patent ruling ▶

Firms fight for the right to patent natural products and processes.

Features

Research integrity: Cell-induced stress ▶

As a much-hailed breakthrough in stem-cell science unravelled this year, many have been asking: ‘Where were the safeguards?’

Malaria control: The great mosquito hunt ▶

From dogs to balloons, researchers are using unorthodox ways to find out where malaria vectors hide during a long dry season.

COMMENT

Non-communicable diseases: Healthy living needs global governance ▶

Lawrence O. Gostin calls for action on nutrition, pollution and the built environment to curb non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cancer.

History: Fifty years of EMBO ▶

Georgina Ferry reflects on the evolution of the European Molecular Biology Organization, founded to help Europe to compete with the United States.

Summer Books

Summer books ▶

As the wild blue yonder beckons and labs and classrooms empty, Nature's regular reviewers share their holiday reads.

Correspondence

Cancer detection: Breast-screening trials are ethical Nikola Biller-Andorno | Cocoa shortfall: Pollination curbs climate risk to cocoa Thomas C. Wanger | South America: Citation databases omit local journals Juan Pablo Alperin | Gold rush: Forest devastated by mining is reborn Evert Thomas | US universities: Graduate admissions test has some merit Brent Bridgeman, David Payne, Jacqueline Briel

Correction

Corrections ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

HIV: The mixed blessing of interferon ▶

Amalio Telenti

Gene regulation: Fine-tuned amplification in cells ▶

Chi V. Dang

Neurobiology: Keeping a lid on it ▶

Gina Turrigiano

Ecology: Pesticides linked to bird declines ▶

Dave Goulson

Comprehensive molecular profiling of lung adenocarcinoma OPEN ▶

An integrated transcriptome, genome, methylome and proteome analysis of over 200 lung adenocarcinomas reveals high rates of somatic mutations, 18 statistically significantly mutated genes including RIT1 and MGA, splicing changes, and alterations in MAPK and PI(3)K pathway activity.

Structure of class C GPCR metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 transmembrane domain ▶

Andrew S. Doré, Krzysztof Okrasa, Jayesh C. Patel et al.

An X-ray structure is presented for metabotropic glutamate receptor 5, a class C G-protein-coupled glutamate receptor linked to fragile X syndrome and neurological disorders; this study provides insights into the protein’s mechanism of action.

Structure of an Rrp6–RNA exosome complex bound to poly(A) RNA ▶

Elizabeth V. Wasmuth, Kurt Januszyk, Christopher D. Lima

The exosome complex contains two catalytic subunits which degrade RNA in either a distributive (Rrp6) or a processive (Rrp44) manner—previous structures indicated how RNA could be directed to Rrp44, but the path taken to Rrp6 was unclear; here the location of the Rrp6 catalytic domain and the RNA 3′ end are determined and it is found that the RNA lies in an opposite orientation from that of the Rrp44-containing exosome structure, suggesting that the fate of an RNA may be influenced by the manner in which cofactors present it.

Ribosomal frameshifting in the CCR5 mRNA is regulated by miRNAs and the NMD pathway ▶

Ashton Trey Belew, Arturas Meskauskas, Sharmishtha Musalgaonkar et al.

Programmed −1 ribosomal frameshifting (−1 PRF) is a process by which a signal in a messenger RNA causes a translating ribosome to shift by one nucleotide, thus changing the reading frame; here −1 PRF in the mRNA for the co-receptor for HIV-1, CCR5, is stimulated by two microRNAs and leads to degradation of the transcript by nonsense-mediated decay and at least one other decay pathway.

DENR–MCT-1 promotes translation re-initiation downstream of uORFs to control tissue growth ▶

Sibylle Schleich, Katrin Strassburger, Philipp Christoph Janiesch et al.

This study identifies the DENR–MCT-1 complex as the first factors in animals specific for translation re-initiation downstream of upstream Open Reading Frames (uORFs).

Processing properties of ON and OFF pathways for Drosophila motion detection ▶

Rudy Behnia, Damon A. Clark, Adam G. Carter et al.

Four medulla neurons implement two critical processing steps to incoming signals in Drosophila motion detection.

The long-term maintenance of a resistance polymorphism through diffuse interactions ▶

Talia L. Karasov, Joel M. Kniskern, Liping Gao et al.

Long-term plant resistance polymorphism does not require obligate association but instead is maintained in the face of diffuse ecological interactions.

The evolution of the placenta drives a shift in sexual selection in livebearing fish ▶

B. J. A. Pollux, R. W. Meredith, M. S. Springer et al.

In poeciliid fish, the evolution of the placenta is associated with polyandry in females and correlates with a suite of phenotypic and behavioural traits in males.

Carbonic anhydrases, EPF2 and a novel protease mediate CO₂ control of stomatal development ▶

Cawas B. Engineer, Majid Ghassemian, Jeffrey C. Anderson et al.

The continuing rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations suppresses the development of stomatal pores, and thus gas exchange, in plant leaves on a global scale; now, a framework of mechanisms by which carbon dioxide represses development has been identified.

Serial time-resolved crystallography of photosystem II using a femtosecond X-ray laser ▶

Christopher Kupitz, Shibom Basu, Ingo Grotjohann et al.

Femtosecond X-ray pulses were used to obtain diffraction data on photosystem II, revealing conformational changes as the complex transitions from the dark S₁ state to the double-pumped S₃ state; the time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography technique enables structural determination of protein conformations that are highly prone to traditional radiation damage.

Metastasis-suppressor transcript destabilization through TARBP2 binding of mRNA hairpins ▶

Hani Goodarzi, Steven Zhang, Colin G. Buss et al.

Linear sequence elements within messenger RNAs are known to be targeted by regulatory factors such as microRNAs for degradation, a process that has been implicated in disease; now, non-linear regulatory structural elements within mRNAs are shown also to be targeted, with the resulting mRNA destabilization mediating breast cancer metastasis.

Activation and repression by oncogenic MYC shape tumour-specific gene expression profiles ▶

Susanne Walz, Francesca Lorenzin, Jennifer Morton et al.

Inducing changes in the levels of the MYC oncoprotein is shown to activate and repress specific sets of target genes that are characteristic of tumour cells, providing an insight into the mechanism by which MYC can stimulate tumorigenesis in contrast to its physiological role.

Declines in insectivorous birds are associated with high neonicotinoid concentrations ▶

Caspar A. Hallmann, Ruud P. B. Foppen, Chris A. M. van Turnhout et al.

The water concentrations of imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid pesticide, correlate with declines in farmland bird populations in the Netherlands.

Selective transcriptional regulation by Myc in cellular growth control and lymphomagenesis ▶

Arianna Sabò, Theresia R. Kress, Mattia Pelizzola et al.

Global transcriptional and epigenomic analyses in diverse cell types reveal that the primary action of Myc is to up- and downregulate transcription of distinct groups of genes, rather than to amplify transcription of all active genes; general RNA amplification, when observed, is better explained as an indirect consequence of Myc’s action on cellular physiology.

Type I interferon responses in rhesus macaques prevent SIV infection and slow disease progression ▶

Netanya G. Sandler, Steven E. Bosinger, Jacob D. Estes et al.

The timing of type I interferon signalling determines the disease course of SIV infection.

Articles and Letters

Abnormalities in human pluripotent cells due to reprogramming mechanisms ▶

Hong Ma, Robert Morey, Ryan C. O'Neil et al.

Genome-wide analysis of matched human IVF embryonic stem cells (IVF ES cells), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) and nuclear transfer ES cells (NT ES cells) derived by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) reveals that human somatic cells can be faithfully reprogrammed to pluripotency by SCNT; NT ES cells and iPS cells derived from the same somatic cells contain comparable numbers of de novo copy number variations, but whereas DNA methylation and transcriptome profiles of NT ES cells and IVF ES cells are similar, iPS cells have residual patterns typical of parental somatic cells.

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor control of a disease tolerance defence pathway ▶

Alban Bessede, Marco Gargaro, Maria T. Pallotta et al.

Initial exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces endotoxin tolerance, which reduces immunological reactions to LPS; here it is shown that primary LPS challenge is controlled by AhR, TDO2 and IL-10, whereas sustained effects require AhR, IDO1 and TGF-β, allowing for disease tolerance with reduced immunopathology in infections.

NMDA receptor structures reveal subunit arrangement and pore architecture ▶

Chia-Hsueh Lee, Wei Lü, Jennifer Carlisle Michel et al.

X-ray crystal structures are presented of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, a calcium-permeable ion channel that opens upon binding of glutamate and glycine; glutamate is a key excitatory neurotransmitter and enhanced structural insight of this receptor may aid development of therapeutic small molecules.

Cooperating with the future ▶

Oliver P. Hauser, David G. Rand, Alexander Peysakhovich et al.

An intergenerational cooperation game has been developed to study decision-making regarding resource use: when decisions about resource extraction were made individually the resource was rapidly depleted by a minority of defectors; the resource was sustainably maintained across generations, however, when decisions were made democratically by voting.

Amphibians acquire resistance to live and dead fungus overcoming fungal immunosuppression ▶

Taegan A. McMahon, Brittany F. Sears, Matthew D. Venesky et al.

The fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has been implicated in the decline of a large number of amphibian species; here it is shown that frogs can learn to avoid the pathogen, acquire resistance to it and be immunized against it using dead pathogen, findings that potentially offer a way in which resistant populations could be reintroduced into areas that have seen catastrophic declines.

A dynamic model of bovine tuberculosis spread and control in Great Britain ▶

Ellen Brooks-Pollock, Gareth O. Roberts, Matt J. Keeling

Bovine tuberculosis is a major economic burden on the cattle industry, and attempts to control it have been politically controversial; here farm movement and bovine tuberculosis incidence data are used to construct a mechanistic model and tease apart the factors contributing to epidemic bovine tuberculosis spread.

Horizontal genome transfer as an asexual path to the formation of new species ▶

Ignacia Fuentes, Sandra Stegemann, Hieronim Golczyk et al.

The formation of a new species can occur by an asexual mechanism by transfer of entire nuclear genomes between plant cells as shown by the creation of a new allopolyploid plant from parental herbaceous and woody plant species, this mechanism is a potential new tool for crop improvement.

Cntnap4 differentially contributes to GABAergic and dopaminergic synaptic transmission ▶

T. Karayannis, E. Au, J. C. Patel et al.

The molecular relationship between synaptic dysfunction and psychiatric disorders was investigated using a mouse model system; presynaptically localized Cntnap4 is required for the output of two disease-relevant neuronal subpopulations (cortical parvalbumin-positive GABAergic cells and midbrain dopaminergic neurons) and Cntnap4 mutants show behavioural abnormalities which can be pharmacologically reversed.

Novel somatic and germline mutations in intracranial germ cell tumours ▶

Linghua Wang, Shigeru Yamaguchi, Matthew D. Burstein et al.

Intracranial germ cell tumours are rare tumours affecting mainly male adolescents, mainly in Asia; here the authors identify frequent mutations in the KIT/RAS and AKT/mTOR signalling pathways as well as rare germline variants in JMJD1C, suggesting potential therapeutic strategies focusing on the inhibition of KIT/RAS activation and the AKT1/mTOR pathway.

SOX2 controls tumour initiation and cancer stem-cell functions in squamous-cell carcinoma ▶

Soufiane Boumahdi, Gregory Driessens, Gaelle Lapouge et al.

Here, in a mouse model of skin squamous cell carcinoma, a key role is demonstrated for the transcription factor SOX2 in the initiation and progression of skin tumours.

Avoidance of ribonucleotide-induced mutations by RNase H2 and Srs2-Exo1 mechanisms ▶

Catherine J. Potenski, Hengyao Niu, Patrick Sung et al.

Srs2 helicase facilitates the removal of ribonucleoside monophosphates that are incorrectly incorporated into DNA during replication.

Reviews and Perspectives

Metabolism of stromal and immune cells in health and disease ▶

Bart Ghesquière, Brian W. Wong, Anna Kuchnio et al.

This Review discusses stromal and immune cell metabolism and its implications for health and disease.

News & Views

Animal health: How to control bovine tuberculosis ▶

Robbie A. McDonald

Stem cells: The quest for the perfect reprogrammed cell ▶

Vladislav Krupalnik, Jacob H. Hanna

Neuroscience: A structure to remember ▶

David Stroebel, Pierre Paoletti

50 & 100 Years Ago ▶

HIV: The mixed blessing of interferon ▶

Amalio Telenti

Gene regulation: Fine-tuned amplification in cells ▶

Chi V. Dang

Neurobiology: Keeping a lid on it ▶

Gina Turrigiano

Ecology: Pesticides linked to bird declines ▶

Dave Goulson

Brief Communications Arising

T_H2 and T_reg candidate genes in elephant shark ▶

Johannes M. Dijkstra

Venkatesh et al. reply ▶

Byrappa Venkatesh, Alison P. Lee, Jeremy B. Swann et al.

Research Highlights

Biomechanics: Kangaroos' tail-powered walk | Zoology: Wasps build charnel houses | Metabolism: Obesity without diabetes | Botany: Bellows blow plant pollen

NEWS & COMMENT

Be concerned | Non-communicable diseases: Healthy living needs global governance | Barriers to trust | Malaria control: The great mosquito hunt | History: Fifty years of EMBO | Cancer detection: Breast-screening trials are ethical | Cocoa shortfall: Pollination curbs climate risk to cocoa | India races through environmental approvals | Biotech reels over patent ruling | Brain fog | Row hits flagship brain plan | Research integrity: Cell-induced stress

More Biological Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

HIV: The mixed blessing of interferon ▶

Amalio Telenti

Gene regulation: Fine-tuned amplification in cells ▶

Chi V. Dang

Comprehensive molecular profiling of lung adenocarcinoma OPEN ▶

An integrated transcriptome, genome, methylome and proteome analysis of over 200 lung adenocarcinomas reveals high rates of somatic mutations, 18 statistically significantly mutated genes including RIT1 and MGA, splicing changes, and alterations in MAPK and PI(3)K pathway activity.

Metastasis-suppressor transcript destabilization through TARBP2 binding of mRNA hairpins ▶

Hani Goodarzi, Steven Zhang, Colin G. Buss et al.

Linear sequence elements within messenger RNAs are known to be targeted by regulatory factors such as microRNAs for degradation, a process that has been implicated in disease; now, non-linear regulatory structural elements within mRNAs are shown also to be targeted, with the resulting mRNA destabilization mediating breast cancer metastasis.

Activation and repression by oncogenic MYC shape tumour-specific gene expression profiles ▶

Susanne Walz, Francesca Lorenzin, Jennifer Morton et al.

Inducing changes in the levels of the MYC oncoprotein is shown to activate and repress specific sets of target genes that are characteristic of tumour cells, providing an insight into the mechanism by which MYC can stimulate tumorigenesis in contrast to its physiological role.

Selective transcriptional regulation by Myc in cellular growth control and lymphomagenesis ▶

Arianna Sabò, Theresia R. Kress, Mattia Pelizzola et al.

Global transcriptional and epigenomic analyses in diverse cell types reveal that the primary action of Myc is to up- and downregulate transcription of distinct groups of genes, rather than to amplify transcription of all active genes; general RNA amplification, when observed, is better explained as an indirect consequence of Myc’s action on cellular physiology.

Type I interferon responses in rhesus macaques prevent SIV infection and slow disease progression ▶

Netanya G. Sandler, Steven E. Bosinger, Jacob D. Estes et al.

The timing of type I interferon signalling determines the disease course of SIV infection.

Articles and Letters

Amphibians acquire resistance to live and dead fungus overcoming fungal immunosuppression ▶

Taegan A. McMahon, Brittany F. Sears, Matthew D. Venesky et al.

The fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has been implicated in the decline of a large number of amphibian species; here it is shown that frogs can learn to avoid the pathogen, acquire resistance to it and be immunized against it using dead pathogen, findings that potentially offer a way in which resistant populations could be reintroduced into areas that have seen catastrophic declines.

A dynamic model of bovine tuberculosis spread and control in Great Britain ▶

Ellen Brooks-Pollock, Gareth O. Roberts, Matt J. Keeling

Bovine tuberculosis is a major economic burden on the cattle industry, and attempts to control it have been politically controversial; here farm movement and bovine tuberculosis incidence data are used to construct a mechanistic model and tease apart the factors contributing to epidemic bovine tuberculosis spread.

Cntnap4 differentially contributes to GABAergic and dopaminergic synaptic transmission ▶

T. Karayannis, E. Au, J. C. Patel et al.

The molecular relationship between synaptic dysfunction and psychiatric disorders was investigated using a mouse model system; presynaptically localized Cntnap4 is required for the output of two disease-relevant neuronal subpopulations (cortical parvalbumin-positive GABAergic cells and midbrain dopaminergic neurons) and Cntnap4 mutants show behavioural abnormalities which can be pharmacologically reversed.

Novel somatic and germline mutations in intracranial germ cell tumours ▶

Linghua Wang, Shigeru Yamaguchi, Matthew D. Burstein et al.

Intracranial germ cell tumours are rare tumours affecting mainly male adolescents, mainly in Asia; here the authors identify frequent mutations in the KIT/RAS and AKT/mTOR signalling pathways as well as rare germline variants in JMJD1C, suggesting potential therapeutic strategies focusing on the inhibition of KIT/RAS activation and the AKT1/mTOR pathway.

SOX2 controls tumour initiation and cancer stem-cell functions in squamous-cell carcinoma ▶

Soufiane Boumahdi, Gregory Driessens, Gaelle Lapouge et al.

Here, in a mouse model of skin squamous cell carcinoma, a key role is demonstrated for the transcription factor SOX2 in the initiation and progression of skin tumours.

Reviews and Perspectives

Metabolism of stromal and immune cells in health and disease ▶

Bart Ghesquière, Brian W. Wong, Anna Kuchnio et al.

This Review discusses stromal and immune cell metabolism and its implications for health and disease.

News & Views

Animal health: How to control bovine tuberculosis ▶

Robbie A. McDonald

HIV: The mixed blessing of interferon ▶

Amalio Telenti

Gene regulation: Fine-tuned amplification in cells ▶

Chi V. Dang

Behavioural economics: A caring majority secures the future ▶

Louis Putterman

Research Highlights

Complexity: Urban social networks remain tight | Metabolism: Obesity without diabetes

NEWS & COMMENT

Non-communicable diseases: Healthy living needs global governance | Barriers to trust | Malaria control: The great mosquito hunt | Cancer detection: Breast-screening trials are ethical

More Health Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Astrophysics: Survival of the largest ▶

Haley Gomez

Jet acceleration of the fast molecular outflows in the Seyfert galaxy IC 5063 ▶

C. Tadhunter, R. Morganti, M. Rose et al.

The observation of high-velocity warm molecular hydrogen in the galaxy IC 5063 supports the proposal that the powerful jets of particles launched by active galactic nuclei can both accelerate and heat the molecular outflows that influence the evolution of galaxies.

Rapid formation of large dust grains in the luminous supernova 2010jl ▶

Christa Gall, Jens Hjorth, Darach Watson et al.

The formation of dust in the dense circumstellar medium of the bright supernova 2010jl is at first rapid and produces very large grains, which resist destruction, whereas later the dust production rate increases, meaning its source is ejecta; this links early and late dust mass evolution in supernovae with dense circumstellar media.

Articles and Letters

Non-local propagation of correlations in quantum systems with long-range interactions ▶

Philip Richerme, Zhe-Xuan Gong, Aaron Lee et al.

Trapped ions are used to determine the speed of propagation of correlations and the causal region to which they are confined in quantum many-body systems with medium- and long-range spin interactions.

Quasiparticle engineering and entanglement propagation in a quantum many-body system ▶

P. Jurcevic, B. P. Lanyon, P. Hauke et al.

The fine control afforded by trapped atomic ions is used to explore experimentally how the range of interactions between the ions influences the spreading of information in quantum many-body systems.

An optoelectronic framework enabled by low-dimensional phase-change films ▶

Peiman Hosseini, C. David Wright, Harish Bhaskaran

Here stable colour changes induced by solid-state electrical switching of ultrathin films of a germanium–antimony–telluride alloy are demonstrated, adding to its established uses in data storage; possible applications include flexible and transparent displays.

News & Views

Applied physics: A new view on displays ▶

Dirk J. Broer

Astrophysics: Survival of the largest ▶

Haley Gomez

Research Highlights

Astronomy: The exoplanets that were not | Chemistry: Water-repellent chemical sponges

NEWS & COMMENT

Brain fog | Row hits flagship brain plan

More Physical Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Ecology: Pesticides linked to bird declines ▶

Dave Goulson

Carbonic anhydrases, EPF2 and a novel protease mediate CO₂ control of stomatal development ▶

Cawas B. Engineer, Majid Ghassemian, Jeffrey C. Anderson et al.

The continuing rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations suppresses the development of stomatal pores, and thus gas exchange, in plant leaves on a global scale; now, a framework of mechanisms by which carbon dioxide represses development has been identified.

Articles and Letters

Quantification of dissolved iron sources to the North Atlantic Ocean ▶

Tim M. Conway, Seth G. John

A high-resolution oceanic section of dissolved iron stable isotope ratios reveals that the primary source of dissolved iron to the North Atlantic is atmospheric dust, while seafloor sediments and submarine volcanic vents also contribute significantly.

Strong contributions of local background climate to urban heat islands ▶

Lei Zhao, Xuhui Lee, Ronald B. Smith et al.

Climate modelling is used to show that for cities across North America, geographic variations in daytime urban heat islands—that is, the temperature differences between urban and adjacent rural areas—are largely explained by variations in the efficiency with which those areas convect heat to the lower atmosphere.

Cooperating with the future ▶

Oliver P. Hauser, David G. Rand, Alexander Peysakhovich et al.

An intergenerational cooperation game has been developed to study decision-making regarding resource use: when decisions about resource extraction were made individually the resource was rapidly depleted by a minority of defectors; the resource was sustainably maintained across generations, however, when decisions were made democratically by voting.

News & Views

Climate science: City heat ▶

Andrew Mitchinson

Ocean chemistry: Fingerprints of a trace nutrient ▶

Joseph A. Resing, Pamela M. Barrett

Ecology: Pesticides linked to bird declines ▶

Dave Goulson

Research Highlights

Climate science: Fly farther for climate benefits | Planetary Science: Hit-and-run origin for Mercury

NEWS & COMMENT

Cocoa shortfall: Pollination curbs climate risk to cocoa | Gold rush: Forest devastated by mining is reborn | India races through environmental approvals | Survey probes volcano’s depths

More Earth & Environmental Sciences ▶

Epilepsy ▶

Mike May

Epidemiology: The complexities of epilepsy ▶

An estimated 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy. But research funding is low, treatment can fail and the mechanisms of the disease are a mystery. By Neil Savage.

Neurobiology: Unrestrained excitement ▶

Epilepsy arises from natural mechanisms in the brain that go awry. Researchers are trying to unravel its complexities.

Perspective: The surgical solution ▶

Not enough doctors and patients opt for surgery to treat epilepsy, despite clinical evidence of the benefits, says Samuel Wiebe.

Genetics: Complex expressions ▶

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders to affect the human brain. Many genetic aspects of the disease have been identified, but mechanisms remains elusive.

Sociology: Shedding the shame ▶

Plagued by a history of fear and stigma, epilepsy has languished when it comes to research funding.

Drug development: Illuminated targets ▶

The development of effective antiepilepsy drugs is moving on from trial-and-error approaches to sophisticated molecular solutions.

Food science: Fat chance ▶

For children with epilepsy whose condition is resistant to medication, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet may help bring their seizures under control.

Technology: Dressed to detect ▶

Wearable devices that monitor seizures promise improvements in epilepsy treatments and research.

Produced with support of an independent medical education grant from Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Employment: PhD overdrive ▶

An excess of graduates means that job-seekers need to be versatile.

Column: A wake-up call ▶

Graduate students must educate themselves and others about academia's dim job prospects, says Jessica Polka.

Careers related news & comment

Seven days: 4–10 July 2014 | History: Fifty years of EMBO Georgina Ferry | US universities: Graduate admissions test has some merit Brent Bridgeman, David Payne, Jacqueline Briel | Row hits flagship brain plan Alison Abbott | Research integrity: Cell-induced stress David Cyranoski

Research Fellow

Trinity College Dublin 

Research Associate

University of Glasgow 

Research Associate

The University of Sheffield 

Postdoctoral fellow

New York University Medical Center 

Genomic Medicine for Clinicians

28.01.15 Cambridge, UK