Table of contents
Volume 453 Number 7195 pp563-696
(this content only available online) indicates content that is available online only
Editorials
Who are we? p563
Efforts to catalogue and understand the human microbiome are opening up a whole new research frontier. But the earlier Human Genome Project should provide a cautionary lesson about overselling.
doi:10.1038/453563a
Animal tests inescapable p563
The ambitious scope of Europe's chemicals legislation demands some innovative toxicology.
doi:10.1038/453563b
Linking up development p564
An initiative to link scientists in the poorest nations with colleagues around the world deserves support.
doi:10.1038/453564a
Research Highlights
Zoology: Pretty good p566
doi:10.1038/453566a
Cell biology: Bean counting p566
doi:10.1038/453566b
Theoretical physics: Better out than in p566
doi:10.1038/453566c
Genetics: Tiger-mice p566
doi:10.1038/453566d
Nanotechnology: Nanozapped p566
doi:10.1038/453566e
Physical chemistry: Growing up bigger p567
doi:10.1038/453567a
Genetics: Genes with bottle p567
doi:10.1038/453567b
Geophysics: The heat is on p567
doi:10.1038/453567c
Genetics: The sweet life p567
doi:10.1038/453567d
Microbiology: Inner lives p567
doi:10.1038/453567e
News
Venerable institute gets a refit p568
Britain's Royal Institution reopens for business.
Matt Brown
doi:10.1038/453568a
Climate anomaly is an artefact p569
Glitch in the twentieth-century climate record is explained.
Quirin Schiermeier
doi:10.1038/453569a
Genetic testing for everyone p570
Private companies are starting to test customers' DNA for gene variants linked to an increased risk of conditions such as obesity or Alzheimer's disease. Helen Pearson looks at whether knowledge really is power when it comes to disease avoidance.
Helen Pearson
doi:10.1038/453570a
France's research agency splits up p573
CNRS is being carved up into separate institutes.
Declan Butler
doi:10.1038/453573a
The oldest pregnant mum p575
Devonian fossilized fish contains an embryo.
Carina Dennis
doi:10.1038/453575a
Sidelines p575
Scribbles on the margins of science.
doi:10.1038/453575b
Phoenix prepares for work after safe landing on Mars p576
doi:10.1038/453576a
Norway's first Kavlis take on Nobel prizes p576
doi:10.1038/453576b
Plug pulled on stellarator fusion project p577
doi:10.1038/453577a
Funding boost for B-cell-based HIV vaccine research p577
doi:10.1038/453577b
Japan to allow limited human embryonic cloning p577
doi:10.1038/453577c
Correction p577
doi:10.1038/453577d
News Features
Microbiology: The inside story p578
The human body teems with microbes. Asher Mullard looks at the global efforts to catalogue this vast 'microbiome'.
doi:10.1038/453578a
Microbiology: Straight from the gut p581
Apoorva Mandavilli meets the surgeons who have a rare opportunity to watch an ecosystem being established as they transplant guts from one person to another.
doi:10.1038/453581a
Origins of Death p583
Programmed cell death is usually seen as the unique prerogative of plants and animals. So how is it that photosynthetic plankton have been killing themselves by uncannily similar methods for billions of years? Nick Lane investigates.
doi:10.1038/453583a
Correspondence
Increasing use of stimulants warns of potential abuse p586
James M. Swanson & Nora D. Volkow
doi:10.1038/453586a
Costa Rica's biotech project still on track for end of year p586
Antonieta Corrales
doi:10.1038/453586b
A prime problem that even quantum computing can't solve p586
Robert P. Bywater
doi:10.1038/453586c
Analyses support theory of stochastic regulation of fisheries p586
Joe Horwood & John Shepherd
doi:10.1038/453586d
If you don't need change, maybe you don't need sex p587
Flemming Ekelund & Regin Rønn
doi:10.1038/453587a
Ancient asexuals: darwinulids not exposed p587
Koen Martens & Isa Schon
doi:10.1038/453587b
Time to break the silence around virtual-water imports p587
Junguo Liu & H. H. G. Savenije
doi:10.1038/453587c
Commentary
Retiring retirement p588
The United States and Australia have done away with this archaic practice. Peter Lawrence says it is time to end mandatory retirement worldwide.
doi:10.1038/453588a
See also: Editor's summary
Books and Arts
Vivisectionists strike back p592
The complex issue of animal experimentation should not be dumbed down in the face of violent opposition, argues Andrew Read, reviewing a new polemic on the US experience.
Andrew Read reviews The Animal Research War by P. Michael Conn & James V. Parker
doi:10.1038/453592a
Moralist, meet scientist p593
Nick Bostrom reviews Experiments in Ethics by Kwame Anthony Appiah
doi:10.1038/453593a
Music grown from garden weeds p594
Colin Martin reviews Umbel Ballits: Dylan Martorell
doi:10.1038/453594a
Reimagining the Royal Institution p595
The Royal Institution of Great Britain in London reopens this week after two years of renovations. Architect Terry Farrell explains how he rethought the institution's ethos.
Matt Brown
doi:10.1038/453595a
Seeing the smaller picture p596
Advances in imaging techniques are transforming microbiology into a science that is rich in visual imagery, harking back to biology's pre-darwinian origins.
Martin Kemp
doi:10.1038/453596a
Hidden treasures: Bologna's Poggi Palace p597
The exquisite obstetrics models on show in an Italian palace hint at its former multidisciplinary glories. Alison Abbott investigates the museum that was once home to a revolutionary institute of sciences.
Alison Abbott
doi:10.1038/453597a
Essay
Science & Music: The neural roots of music p598
Laurel Trainor explains how the emotional power of music depends on the structure of the ear, and on our basic encoding of information.
Laurel Trainor
doi:10.1038/453598a
See also: Editor's summary
News and Views
Climate change: Hot questions of temperature bias p601
An unseen measurement bias has been identified in global records of sea surface temperature. The discrepancy will need correction, but will not affect conclusions about an overall warming trend.
Chris E. Forest & Richard W. Reynolds
doi:10.1038/453601a
See also: Editor's summary
Immunology: Soothing intestinal sugars p602
The gut is a new frontier in microbiology, offering many opportunities for innovative investigation. The finding of one such study is that intestinal inflammation in mice can be tamed by bacterial sugars.
Marika C. Kullberg
doi:10.1038/453602a
See also: Editor's summary
Cancer: Whispering sweet somethings p604
That genetic mutations contribute to cancer is undisputed. What now emerges is that a cancer cell's microenvironment has a much stronger hand in the course a cancer takes than previously thought.
Thea Tlsty
doi:10.1038/453604a
Evolutionary biology: Sex ratios writ small p605
The evolutionary theory of sex ratios should apply to all creatures, both great and small. Experimental studies of the proportions of male to female sex cells of malaria parasites deliver cheering results.
Jos. J. Schall
doi:10.1038/453605a
See also: Editor's summary
Mathematical physics: Packings close and loose p606
What determines how grains such as sand pack together to fill a space? A thoroughgoing investigation of how geometry and friction interact in such systems is a step towards a more general understanding.
Francesco Zamponi
doi:10.1038/453606a
See also: Editor's summary
Articles
Sex ratio adjustment and kin discrimination in malaria parasites p609
Sarah E. Reece, Damien R. Drew & Andy Gardner
doi:10.1038/nature06954
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (341K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Schall
The genomic and epidemiological dynamics of human influenza A virus p615
Andrew Rambaut, Oliver G. Pybus, Martha I. Nelson, Cecile Viboud, Jeffery K. Taubenberger & Edward C. Holmes
doi:10.1038/nature06945
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (772K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
A microbial symbiosis factor prevents intestinal inflammatory disease p620
Sarkis K. Mazmanian, June L. Round & Dennis L. Kasper
doi:10.1038/nature07008
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (857K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Kullberg
Letters
An infrared ring around the magnetar SGR 1900+14 p626
S. Wachter, E. Ramirez-Ruiz, V. V. Dwarkadas, C. Kouveliotou, J. Granot, S. K. Patel & D. Figer
doi:10.1038/nature06987
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (222K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
A phase diagram for jammed matter p629
Chaoming Song, Ping Wang & Hernán A. Makse
doi:10.1038/nature06981
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (304K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Zamponi
Quantum phase transition in a single-molecule quantum dot p633
Nicolas Roch, Serge Florens, Vincent Bouchiat, Wolfgang Wernsdorfer & Franck Balestro
doi:10.1038/nature06930
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,323K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Anatase TiO2 single crystals with a large percentage of reactive facets p638
Hua Gui Yang, Cheng Hua Sun, Shi Zhang Qiao, Jin Zou, Gang Liu, Sean Campbell Smith, Hui Ming Cheng & Gao Qing Lu
doi:10.1038/nature06964
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (579K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Snowball Earth termination by destabilization of equatorial permafrost methane clathrate p642
Martin Kennedy, David Mrofka & Chris von der Borch
doi:10.1038/nature06961
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (535K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
A large discontinuity in the mid-twentieth century in observed global-mean surface temperature p646
David W. J. Thompson, John J. Kennedy, John M. Wallace & Phil D. Jones
doi:10.1038/nature06982
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (385K)
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Forest & Reynolds
Live birth in the Devonian period p650
John A. Long, Kate Trinajstic, Gavin C. Young & Tim Senden
doi:10.1038/nature06966
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,127K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Abundance and diversity of microbial life in ocean crust p653
Cara M. Santelli, Beth N. Orcutt, Erin Banning, Wolfgang Bach, Craig L. Moyer, Mitchell L. Sogin, Hubert Staudigel & Katrina J. Edwards
doi:10.1038/nature06899
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (536K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Functional genomic screen reveals genes involved in lipid-droplet formation and utilization p657
Yi Guo, Tobias C. Walther, Meghana Rao, Nico Stuurman, Gohta Goshima, Koji Terayama, Jinny S. Wong, Ronald D. Vale, Peter Walter & Robert V. Farese
doi:10.1038/nature06928
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,220K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Angiogenesis selectively requires the p110
isoform of PI3K to control endothelial cell migration p662
Mariona Graupera, Julie Guillermet-Guibert, Lazaros C. Foukas, Li-Kun Phng, Robert J. Cain, Ashreena Salpekar, Wayne Pearce, Stephen Meek, Jaime Millan, Pedro R. Cutillas, Andrew J. H. Smith, Anne J. Ridley, Christiana Ruhrberg, Holger Gerhardt & Bart Vanhaesebroeck
doi:10.1038/nature06892
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (993K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Rapid cloning of high-affinity human monoclonal antibodies against influenza virus p667
Jens Wrammert, Kenneth Smith, Joe Miller, William A. Langley, Kenneth Kokko, Christian Larsen, Nai-Ying Zheng, Israel Mays, Lori Garman, Christina Helms, Judith James, Gillian M. Air, J. Donald Capra, Rafi Ahmed & Patrick C. Wilson
doi:10.1038/nature06890
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (717K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
CLEC5A is critical for dengue-virus-induced lethal disease p672
Szu-Ting Chen, Yi-Ling Lin, Ming-Ting Huang, Ming-Fang Wu, Shih-Chin Cheng, Huan-Yao Lei, Chien-Kuo Lee, Tzyy-Wen Chiou, Chi-Huey Wong & Shie-Liang Hsieh
doi:10.1038/nature07013
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (750K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Single-stranded DNA-binding protein hSSB1 is critical for genomic stability p677
Derek J. Richard, Emma Bolderson, Liza Cubeddu, Ross I. M. Wadsworth, Kienan Savage, Girdhar G. Sharma, Matthew L. Nicolette, Sergie Tsvetanov, Michael J. McIlwraith, Raj K. Pandita, Shunichi Takeda, Ronald T. Hay, Jean Gautier, Stephen C. West, Tanya T. Paull, Tej K. Pandita, Malcolm F. White & Kum Kum Khanna
doi:10.1038/nature06883
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (873K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
HP1-
mobilization promotes chromatin changes that initiate the DNA damage response p682
Nabieh Ayoub, Anand D. Jeyasekharan, Juan A. Bernal & Ashok R. Venkitaraman
doi:10.1038/nature06875
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,170K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Technology Features
Metagenomics: Exploring unseen communities p687
Advances in sequencing technology and tools for analysis are allowing researchers to unravel the environmental diversity of microbes faster and in greater detail than ever before. Nathan Blow reports.
Nathan Blow
doi:10.1038/453687a
See also: Editor's summary
Metagenomics: Benchmarks and standards p687
doi:10.1038/453687b
Metagenomics: The human environment p689
doi:10.1038/453689a
Metagenomics: Table of suppliers p691
doi:10.1038/453691a
Naturejobs
ProspectProspects p693
Contemplating the contributions of, and discrimination against, scientists who are senior citizens.
Gene Russo
doi:10.1038/nj7195-693a
Career View
Larry McKinney, director, Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, Texas p694
Oceanographer heads to an institute in the Gulf of Mexico to look after America's third coast.
Virginia Gewin
doi:10.1038/nj7195-694a
The softer side of science p694
Mastering soft skills helps master one's career.
Bernhard Sabel
doi:10.1038/nj7195-694b
Singapore's happiest person p694
Aspiring to emulate Singapore's happiest person.
Amanda Goh
doi:10.1038/nj7195-694c
Futures
Morpho sanguinalis p696
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Julie Jansen
doi:10.1038/453696a
