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Nature

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ISSN (Print) 0028-0836 - ISSN (Online) 1476-4687
Published by Nature Publishing Group

[134 journals]

Privacy in the digital age
- Pages: 287 - 287
  Abstract: The proposed European Data Protection Regulation will rightly preserve people’s privacy — but, without exceptions for scientific research, it could hinder or prevent medical discoveries.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497287a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Science in schools
- Pages: 287 - 288
  Abstract: The US National Center for Science Education teaches researchers how to fight for their cause.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497287b
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Together we stand
- Pages: 288 - 288
  Abstract: To reach a sustainable future, we must merge economic and environmental agendas.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497288a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Driving students into science is a fool’s errand
- Authors: Colin Macilwain
  Pages: 289 - 289
  Abstract: If programmes to bolster STEM education are effective, they distort the labour market; if they aren’t, they’re a waste of money, argues Colin Macilwain.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497289a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Epidemiology: Unappreciated toll of toxic sites
- Pages: 290 - 290
  Abstract: Toxic-waste sites pose as big a health threat as malaria in some developing nations.Kevin Chatham-Stephens at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and his colleagues produced a systematic assessment of the disease burden of toxic-waste sites in India (pictured),
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497290a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Neuroscience: Cell transplants stem seizures
- Pages: 290 - 290
  Abstract: Stem-cell therapy can reduce seizures in epileptic mice.Some forms of epilepsy are thought to be caused by dysfunctional cells in the hippocampus region of the brain. The affected cells, called inhibitory interneurons, help to regulate neural circuits. Robert Hunt, Scott Baraban and their colleagues
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497290b
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Addiction research: Drug vaccine blocks rat relapse
- Pages: 290 - 290
  Abstract: A vaccine stops heroin-addicted rats from seeking the drug.Earlier vaccines against heroin have faltered because the antibodies that they induce are easily overwhelmed by increased doses of the drug. Joel Schlosburg and his colleagues at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, have
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497290c
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Climate science: More cyclones for Hawaiian Islands
- Pages: 290 - 290
  Abstract: Climate change could double the number of tropical cyclones that storm into the Hawaiian Islands.Hiroyuki Murakami, then at the Meteorological Research Institute in Tsukuba, Japan, and his colleagues simulated tropical-cyclone patterns using several versions of a weather model, as well as predictions of sea-surface
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497290d
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Microbiology: Fast life in the urinary tract
- Pages: 290 - 291
  Abstract: Bacteria responsible for recurrent urinary-tract infections migrate from the gut.These infections, which affect up to one-quarter of women, are caused mostly by strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli that are thought to give up their adaptations to life in the gut for ones
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497290e
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Animal behaviour: Tree-loving lemur digs hole in winter
- Pages: 291 - 291
  Abstract: Lemurs normally live in trees, but researchers have discovered that at least two species hibernate underground.Marina Blanco at the Duke Lemur Center in Durham, North Carolina, and her colleagues unearthed two species of eastern dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus sibreei and C. crossleyi,
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497291a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Palaeontology: Flow sorting for fossil pollen
- Pages: 291 - 291
  Abstract: Unconventional use of a sorting technology could help palaeontologists to date lake sediments. This could enable better reconstruction of past environments and climates.Pollen grains, which can be used in carbon dating, are often the only organic matter found in abundance in lake sediments. However,
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497291b
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Cell biology: Sperm control DNA breaks
- Pages: 291 - 291
  Abstract: When dividing to produce mammalian sex cells, cells coordinate how DNA breaks occur.The cell-division process that forms these sex cells, which contain one set of chromosomes instead of the normal two, involves the swapping of bits of genetic material between matching pairs of chromosomes.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497291c
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Zoology: Tongue spikes snare nectar
- Pages: 291 - 291
  Abstract: Hovering bats use barbed tongues to snare nectar from flowers.Cally Harper and her colleagues at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, used a high-speed video camera and post-mortem analyses to understand the mechanics of the eponymous organ of the Pallas's long-tongued bat (Glossophaga
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497291d
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Materials science: Holes help supercapacitor
- Pages: 291 - 291
  Abstract: Highly read on www.wiley.com in MarchA graphene-based material can store energy at seven times the density of commercial carbon-based products.Supercapacitors — which could be used to power electric vehicles — recharge and release energy faster than batteries, but their energy density is
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497291e
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Seven days: 10–16 May 2013
- Pages: 292 - 293
  Abstract: The week in science: Endangered ecosystems listed, GM patents protected, and wild poliovirus detected in Somalia.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497292a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Magnetar found at giant black hole
- Authors: Eugenie Samuel Reich
  Pages: 296 - 297
  Abstract: Magnetized neutron star could test Einstein’s theory.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-14
  DOI: 10.1038/497296a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Chinese project probes the genetics of genius
- Authors: Ed Yong
  Pages: 297 - 299
  Abstract: Bid to unravel the secrets of brainpower faces scepticism.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-14
  DOI: 10.1038/497297a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Hawking decision fuels Israel debate
- Authors: Daniel Cressey
  Pages: 299 - 300
  Abstract: Physicist’s stance a ‘turning point’, claim supporters.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-14
  DOI: 10.1038/497299a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Meeting targets lab lapses
- Authors: Richard Van Noorden
  Pages: 300 - 301
  Abstract: Attendees search for ways to tackle misconduct and sloppy science.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-14
  DOI: 10.1038/497300a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Correction
- Pages: 301 - 301
  Abstract: The News story ‘Targeted drugs to tackle hepatitis C’ (Nature497, 18–19; 2013) wrongly implied that the US Preventive Services Task Force considers financial costs when evaluating the risks and benefits of screening. It does not.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497301a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Neanderthal culture: Old masters
- Authors: Tim Appenzeller
  Pages: 302 - 304
  Abstract: The earliest known cave paintings fuel arguments about whether Neanderthals were the mental equals of modern humans.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497302a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Invasive species: The 18-km2 rat trap
- Authors: Henry Nicholls
  Pages: 306 - 308
  Abstract: Ecuador has successfully eradicated invasive pigs and goats from most of the Galapagos archipelago. Now it is taking on the rats.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497306a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Lab life: Don't bristle at blunders
- Authors: Mario Livio
  Pages: 309 - 310
  Abstract: Embrace mistakes, urges Mario Livio — they are portals to scientific progress.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497309a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Philanthropy: The difficult art of giving
- Authors: William H. Schneider
  Pages: 311 - 312
  Abstract: William H. Schneider reflects on the centenary of the Rockefeller Foundation, which began the postdoc and the grant, and led to the World Health Organization.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497311a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Neuroscience: Losing the past
- Authors: Douwe Draaisma
  Pages: 313 - 314
  Abstract: Douwe Draaisma visits the unusual mind of Henry Molaison, the most famous patient in brain science.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497313a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Space exploration: Life on Mars
- Authors: Jim Bell
  Pages: 314 - 315
  Abstract: Jim Bell welcomes a detailed blueprint for colonizing the red planet from Apollo 11 veteran Buzz Aldrin.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497314a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Books in brief
- Authors: Barbara Kiser
  Pages: 315 - 315
  Abstract: Nanotechnology pioneer Eric Drexler bids us to leap in at the technological deep end. We can transform the way we make everything from bridges to circuit boards, he argues, by harnessing molecular machines that operate on digital principles. The result' Desktop or garage facilities that
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497315a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Q&A: Elephant man
- Authors: Laura Spinney
  Pages: 316 - 316
  Abstract: Architect Rahul Mehrotra builds with social advocacy in mind. His latest project at Hathi Gaon, a village in Rajasthan, India, provides housing for 100 elephants and their mahouts. A professor at Harvard Graduate School of Design in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he talks about urban evolution and 'impatient capital'.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497316a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Policy: Social responsibility for new technologies
- Authors: Jacqueline McGlade|David Quist|David Gee
  Pages: 317 - 317
  Abstract: A 2013 report by the European Environment Agency analyses a range of chemical and technological innovations and the long-term effectiveness of policies designed to minimize risks to health and the environment resulting from their use (see go.nature.com/ajxkkt). As contributors to the report, we call
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497317a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Archives: Preserve our digital heritage
- Authors: Ian Milligan
  Pages: 317 - 317
  Abstract: Last month saw the sudden end of Yahoo! Messages, a valuable 15-year-old treasure trove of early Internet discussions. Luckily, Archive Team, a group dedicated to saving our digital heritage, was able to preserve the data. But we need to be more vigilant over the erosion
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497317b
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Pollution: An innovation prize for clean cookstoves
- Authors: Ambuj D. Sagar|Kirk R. Smith
  Pages: 317 - 317
  Abstract: A radical shift in engine technology in the 1970s (Honda's CVCC) drastically cut motor-vehicle emissions. A comparable game-changer could solve an even bigger pollution problem today.Household air pollution from the traditional biomass-burning stoves used in many developing countries is the world's largest environmental-health threat,
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497317c
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Whales: No mass strandings since sonar ban
- Authors: Antonio Fernández|Manuel Arbelo|Vidal Martín
  Pages: 317 - 317
  Abstract: Prompt political action may have resulted in a remarkable conservation success for whales and dolphins. The Canary Islands used to be a hotspot for mass strandings, but there have been no mass beachings since the Spanish government imposed a moratorium on naval exercises in these
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497317d
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Astronomy: Japan's work on ALMA telescope
- Authors: Masahiko Hayashi|Satoru Iguchi
  Pages: 317 - 317
  Abstract: Your report on the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the world's highest-altitude radio telescope, omits mention of Japan's contribution (Nature495, 156–159; 201310.1038/495156a).The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) is one of three executive partners of ALMA
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497317e
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Robert Edwards (1925–2013)
- Authors: Roger Gosden
  Pages: 318 - 318
  Abstract: Pioneer of in vitro fertilization.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497318a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Fisheries: Climate change at the dinner table
- Authors: Mark R. Payne
  Pages: 320 - 321
  Abstract: An innovative use of catch statistics shows that climate change has already influenced the composition of species in fisheries around the world, and thereby the fish that we eat. See Letter p.365
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497320a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Microbiology: Bacterial communities as capitalist economies
- Authors: Ute Römling
  Pages: 321 - 322
  Abstract: Tracking the behaviour of bacteria as they group together on a surface reveals a 'rich-get-richer' mechanism in which polysaccharide deposition and cellular location amplify in a positive feedback loop. See Letter p.388
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-08
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12103
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Planetary science: Plumbing the depths of Uranus and Neptune
- Authors: Peter Read
  Pages: 323 - 324
  Abstract: An analysis of data collected by the Voyager 2 spacecraft and by ground-based telescopes limits the depths to which winds penetrate into Uranus and Neptune, informing the debate about these planets' internal structures. See Letter p.344
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497323a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Metallurgy: Iron production electrified
- Authors: Derek Fray
  Pages: 324 - 325
  Abstract: Scientists have long dreamt of converting molten iron oxide to iron and oxygen using electricity. An anode material that withstands the high temperatures and corrosive chemicals involved brings the dream closer to reality. See Letter p.353
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-08
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12102
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Evolution: Stuck between the teeth
- Authors: P. David Polly
  Pages: 325 - 326
  Abstract: A computer model of tooth evolution designed to assess the impact of developmental dynamics on natural selection reveals that complexity reduces the likelihood of maximum fitness being attained. See Letter p.361
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-01
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12099
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Inferring ancient divergences requires genes with strong phylogenetic signals
- Authors: Leonidas Salichos|Antonis Rokas
  Pages: 327 - 331
  Abstract: To tackle incongruence, the topological conflict between different gene trees, phylogenomic studies couple concatenation with practices such as rogue taxon removal or the use of slowly evolving genes. Phylogenomic analysis of 1,070 orthologues from 23 yeast genomes identified 1,070 distinct gene trees, which were all incongruent with the
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-08
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12130
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Structural and molecular interrogation of intact biological systems
- Authors: Kwanghun Chung|Jenelle Wallace|Sung-Yon Kim|Sandhiya Kalyanasundaram|Aaron S. Andalman|Thomas J. Davidson|Julie J. Mirzabekov|Kelly A. Zalocusky|Joanna Mattis|Aleksandra K. Denisin|Sally Pak|Hannah Bernstein|Charu Ramakrishnan|Logan Grosenick|Viviana Gradinaru|Karl Deisseroth
  Pages: 332 - 337
  Abstract: Obtaining high-resolution information from a complex system, while maintaining the global perspective needed to understand system function, represents a key challenge in biology. Here we address this challenge with a method (termed CLARITY) for the transformation of intact tissue into a nanoporous hydrogel-hybridized form (crosslinked
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-04-10
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12107
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Structure of the human smoothened receptor bound to an antitumour agent
- Authors: Chong Wang|Huixian Wu|Vsevolod Katritch|Gye Won Han|Xi-Ping Huang|Wei Liu|Fai Yiu Siu|Bryan L. Roth|Vadim Cherezov|Raymond C. Stevens
  Pages: 338 - 343
  Abstract: The smoothened (SMO) receptor, a key signal transducer in the hedgehog signalling pathway, is responsible for the maintenance of normal embryonic development and is implicated in carcinogenesis. It is classified as a class frizzled (class F) G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), although the canonical hedgehog signalling pathway
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-01
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12167
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Atmospheric confinement of jet streams on Uranus and Neptune
- Authors: Yohai Kaspi|Adam P. Showman|William B. Hubbard|Oded Aharonson|Ravit Helled
  Pages: 344 - 347
  Abstract: The observed cloud-level atmospheric circulation on the outer planets of the Solar System is dominated by strong east–west jet streams. The depth of these winds is a crucial unknown in constraining their overall dynamics, energetics and internal structures. There are two approaches to explaining the existence of these strong winds. The first suggests that the jets are driven by shallow atmospheric processes near the surface, whereas the second suggests that the atmospheric dynamics extend deeply into the planetary interiors. Here we report that on Uranus and Neptune the depth of the atmospheric dynamics can be revealed by the planets’ respective gravity fields. We show that the measured fourth-order gravity harmonic, J4, constrains the dynamics to the outermost 0.15 per cent of the total mass of Uranus and the outermost 0.2 per cent of the total mass of Neptune. This provides a stronger limit to the depth of the dynamical atmosphere than previously suggested, and shows that the dynamics are confined to a thin weather layer no more than about 1,000 kilometres deep on both planets.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12131
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
An electrically pumped polariton laser
- Authors: Christian Schneider|Arash Rahimi-Iman|Na Young Kim|Julian Fischer|Ivan G. Savenko|Matthias Amthor|Matthias Lermer|Adriana Wolf|Lukas Worschech|Vladimir D. Kulakovskii|Ivan A. Shelykh|Martin Kamp|Stephan Reitzenstein|Alfred Forchel|Yoshihisa Yamamoto|Sven Höfling
  Pages: 348 - 352
  Abstract: Conventional semiconductor laser emission relies on stimulated emission of photons, which sets stringent requirements on the minimum amount of energy necessary for its operation. In comparison, exciton–polaritons in strongly coupled quantum well microcavities can undergo stimulated scattering that promises more energy-efficient generation of coherent light by ‘polariton lasers’. Polariton laser operation has been demonstrated in optically pumped semiconductor microcavities at temperatures up to room temperature, and such lasers can outperform their weak-coupling counterparts in that they have a lower threshold density. Even though polariton diodes have been realized, electrically pumped polariton laser operation, which is essential for practical applications, has not been achieved until now. Here we present an electrically pumped polariton laser based on a microcavity containing multiple quantum wells. To prove polariton laser emission unambiguously, we apply a magnetic field and probe the hybrid light–matter nature of the polaritons. Our results represent an important step towards the practical implementation of polaritonic light sources and electrically injected condensates, and can be extended to room-temperature operation using wide-bandgap materials.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12036
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
A new anode material for oxygen evolution in molten oxide electrolysis
- Authors: Antoine Allanore|Lan Yin|Donald R. Sadoway
  Pages: 353 - 356
  Abstract: Molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) is an electrometallurgical technique that enables the direct production of metal in the liquid state from oxide feedstock, and compared with traditional methods of extractive metallurgy offers both a substantial simplification of the process and a significant reduction in energy consumption. MOE is also considered a promising route for mitigation of CO2 emissions in steelmaking, production of metals free of carbon, and generation of oxygen for extra-terrestrial exploration. Until now, MOE has been demonstrated using anode materials that are consumable (graphite for use with ferro-alloys and titanium) or unaffordable for terrestrial applications (iridium for use with iron). To enable metal production without process carbon, MOE requires an anode material that resists depletion while sustaining oxygen evolution. The challenges for iron production are threefold. First, the process temperature is in excess of 1,538 degrees Celsius (ref. 10). Second, under anodic polarization most metals inevitably corrode in such conditions. Third, iron oxide undergoes spontaneous reduction on contact with most refractory metals and even carbon. Here we show that anodes comprising chromium-based alloys exhibit limited consumption during iron extraction and oxygen evolution by MOE. The anode stability is due to the formation of an electronically conductive solid solution of chromium(iii) and aluminium oxides in the corundum structure. These findings make practicable larger-scale evaluation of MOE for the production of steel, and potentially provide a key material component enabling mitigation of greenhouse-gas emissions while producing metal of superior metallurgical quality.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-08
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12134
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Deep fracture fluids isolated in the crust since the Precambrian era
- Authors: G. Holland|B. Sherwood Lollar|L. Li|G. Lacrampe-Couloume|G. F. Slater|C. J. Ballentine
  Pages: 357 - 360
  Abstract: Fluids trapped as inclusions within minerals can be billions of years old and preserve a record of the fluid chemistry and environment at the time of mineralization. Aqueous fluids that have had a similar residence time at mineral interfaces and in fractures (fracture fluids) have not been previously identified. Expulsion of fracture fluids from basement systems with low connectivity occurs through deformation and fracturing of the brittle crust. The fractal nature of this process must, at some scale, preserve pockets of interconnected fluid from the earliest crustal history. In one such system, 2.8 kilometres below the surface in a South African gold mine, extant chemoautotrophic microbes have been identified in fluids isolated from the photosphere on timescales of tens of millions of years. Deep fracture fluids with similar chemistry have been found in a mine in the Timmins, Ontario, area of the Canadian Precambrian Shield. Here we show that excesses of 124Xe, 126Xe and 128Xe in the Timmins mine fluids can be linked to xenon isotope changes in the ancient atmosphere and used to calculate a minimum mean residence time for this fluid of about 1.5 billion years. Further evidence of an ancient fluid system is found in 129Xe excesses that, owing to the absence of any identifiable mantle input, are probably sourced in sediments and extracted by fluid migration processes operating during or shortly after mineralization at around 2.64 billion years ago. We also provide closed-system radiogenic noble-gas (4He, 21Ne, 40Ar, 136Xe) residence times. Together, the different noble gases show that ancient pockets of water can survive the crustal fracturing process and remain in the crust for billions of years.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12127
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Adaptive dynamics under development-based genotype–phenotype maps
- Authors: Isaac Salazar-Ciudad|Miquel Marín-Riera
  Pages: 361 - 364
  Abstract: It is not known whether natural selection can encounter any given phenotype that can be produced by genetic variation. There has been a long-lasting debate about the processes that limit adaptation and, consequently, about how well adapted phenotypes are. Here we examine how development may affect adaptation, by decomposing the genotype–fitness map—the association between each genotype and its fitness—into two: one mapping genotype to phenotype by means of a computational model of organ development, and one mapping phenotype to fitness. In the map of phenotype and fitness, the fitness of each individual is based on the similarity between realized morphology and optimal morphology. We use three different simulations to map phenotype to fitness, and these differ in the way in which similarity is calculated: similarity is calculated for each trait (in terms of each cell position individually), for a large or a small number of phenotypic landmarks (the ‘many-traits’ and ‘few-traits’ phenotype–fitness maps), and by measuring the overall surface roughness of morphology (the ‘roughness’ phenotype–fitness map). Evolution is simulated by applying the genotype–phenotype map and one phenotype–fitness map to each individual in the population, as well as random mutation and drift. We show that the complexity of the genotype–phenotype map prevents substantial adaptation in some of the phenotype–fitness maps: sustained adaptation is only possible using ‘roughness’ or ‘few-traits’ phenotype–fitness maps. The results contribute developmental understanding to the long-standing question of which aspects of phenotype can be effectively optimized by natural selection.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-01
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12142
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Signature of ocean warming in global fisheries catch
- Authors: William W. L. Cheung|Reg Watson|Daniel Pauly
  Pages: 365 - 368
  Abstract: Marine fishes and invertebrates respond to ocean warming through distribution shifts, generally to higher latitudes and deeper waters. Consequently, fisheries should be affected by ‘tropicalization’ of catch (increasing dominance of warm-water species). However, a signature of such climate-change effects on global fisheries catch has so far not been detected. Here we report such an index, the mean temperature of the catch (MTC), that is calculated from the average inferred temperature preference of exploited species weighted by their annual catch. Our results show that, after accounting for the effects of fishing and large-scale oceanographic variability, global MTC increased at a rate of 0.19 degrees Celsius per decade between 1970 and 2006, and non-tropical MTC increased at a rate of 0.23 degrees Celsius per decade. In tropical areas, MTC increased initially because of the reduction in the proportion of subtropical species catches, but subsequently stabilized as scope for further tropicalization of communities became limited. Changes in MTC in 52 large marine ecosystems, covering the majority of the world’s coastal and shelf areas, are significantly and positively related to regional changes in sea surface temperature. This study shows that ocean warming has already affected global fisheries in the past four decades, highlighting the immediate need to develop adaptation plans to minimize the effect of such warming on the economy and food security of coastal communities, particularly in tropical regions.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12156
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Protective astrogenesis from the SVZ niche after injury is controlled by Notch modulator Thbs4
- Authors: Eric J. Benner|Dominic Luciano|Rebecca Jo|Khadar Abdi|Patricia Paez-Gonzalez|Huaxin Sheng|David S. Warner|Chunlei Liu|Cagla Eroglu|Chay T. Kuo
  Pages: 369 - 373
  Abstract: Postnatal/adult neural stem cells (NSCs) within the rodent subventricular zone (SVZ; also called subependymal zone) generate doublecortin (Dcx)+ neuroblasts that migrate and integrate into olfactory bulb circuitry. Continuous production of neuroblasts is controlled by the SVZ microenvironmental niche. It is generally thought that enhancing the neurogenic activities of endogenous NSCs may provide needed therapeutic options for disease states and after brain injury. However, SVZ NSCs can also differentiate into astrocytes. It remains unclear whether there are conditions that favour astrogenesis over neurogenesis in the SVZ niche, and whether astrocytes produced there have different properties compared with astrocytes produced elsewhere in the brain. Here we show in mice that SVZ-generated astrocytes express high levels of thrombospondin 4 (Thbs4), a secreted homopentameric glycoprotein, in contrast to cortical astrocytes, which express low levels of Thbs4. We found that localized photothrombotic/ischaemic cortical injury initiates a marked increase in Thbs4hi astrocyte production from the postnatal SVZ niche. Tamoxifen-inducible nestin-creERtm4 lineage tracing demonstrated that it is these SVZ-generated Thbs4hi astrocytes, and not Dcx+ neuroblasts, that home-in on the injured cortex. This robust post-injury astrogenic response required SVZ Notch activation modulated by Thbs4 via direct Notch1 receptor binding and endocytosis to activate downstream signals, including increased Nfia transcription factor expression important for glia production. Consequently, Thbs4 homozygous knockout mice (Thbs4KO/KO) showed severe defects in cortical-injury-induced SVZ astrogenesis, instead producing cells expressing Dcx migrating from SVZ to the injury sites. These alterations in cellular responses resulted in abnormal glial scar formation after injury, and significantly increased microvascular haemorrhage into the brain parenchyma of Thbs4KO/KO mice. Taken together, these findings have important implications for post-injury applications of endogenous and transplanted NSCs in the therapeutic setting, as well as disease states where Thbs family members have important roles.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-04-24
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12069
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
X-ray phase-contrast in vivo microtomography probes new aspects of Xenopus gastrulation
- Authors: Julian Moosmann|Alexey Ershov|Venera Altapova|Tilo Baumbach|Maneeshi S. Prasad|Carole LaBonne|Xianghui Xiao|Jubin Kashef|Ralf Hofmann
  Pages: 374 - 377
  Abstract: An ambitious goal in biology is to understand the behaviour of cells during development by imaging—in vivo and with subcellular resolution—changes of the embryonic structure. Important morphogenetic movements occur throughout embryogenesis, but in particular during gastrulation when a series of dramatic, coordinated cell movements drives the reorganization of a simple ball or sheet of cells into a complex multi-layered organism. In Xenopus laevis, the South African clawed frog and also in zebrafish, cell and tissue movements have been studied in explants, in fixed embryos, in vivo using fluorescence microscopy or microscopic magnetic resonance imaging. None of these methods allows cell behaviours to be observed with micrometre-scale resolution throughout the optically opaque, living embryo over developmental time. Here we use non-invasive in vivo, time-lapse X-ray microtomography, based on single-distance phase contrast and combined with motion analysis, to examine the course of embryonic development. We demonstrate that this powerful four-dimensional imaging technique provides high-resolution views of gastrulation processes in wild-type X. laevis embryos, including vegetal endoderm rotation, archenteron formation, changes in the volumes of cavities within the porous interstitial tissue between archenteron and blastocoel, migration/confrontation of mesendoderm and closure of the blastopore. Differential flow analysis separates collective from relative cell motion to assign propulsion mechanisms. Moreover, digitally determined volume balances confirm that early archenteron inflation occurs through the uptake of external water. A transient ectodermal ridge, formed in association with the confrontation of ventral and head mesendoderm on the blastocoel roof, is identified. When combined with perturbation experiments to investigate molecular and biomechanical underpinnings of morphogenesis, our technique should help to advance our understanding of the fundamentals of development.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12116
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
The shaping and functional consequences of the microRNA landscape in breast cancer
- Authors: Heidi Dvinge|Anna Git|Stefan Gräf|Mali Salmon-Divon|Christina Curtis|Andrea Sottoriva|Yongjun Zhao|Martin Hirst|Javier Armisen|Eric A. Miska|Suet-Feung Chin|Elena Provenzano|Gulisa Turashvili|Andrew Green|Ian Ellis|Sam Aparicio|Carlos Caldas
  Pages: 378 - 382
  Abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) show differential expression across breast cancer subtypes, and have both oncogenic and tumour-suppressive roles. Here we report the miRNA expression profiles of 1,302 breast tumours with matching detailed clinical annotation, long-term follow-up and genomic and messenger RNA expression data. This provides a comprehensive overview of the quantity, distribution and variation of the miRNA population and provides information on the extent to which genomic, transcriptional and post-transcriptional events contribute to miRNA expression architecture, suggesting an important role for post-transcriptional regulation. The key clinical parameters and cellular pathways related to the miRNA landscape are characterized, revealing context-dependent interactions, for example with regards to cell adhesion and Wnt signalling. Notably, only prognostic miRNA signatures derived from breast tumours devoid of somatic copy-number aberrations (CNA-devoid) are consistently prognostic across several other subtypes and can be validated in external cohorts. We then use a data-driven approach to seek the effects of miRNAs associated with differential co-expression of mRNAs, and find that miRNAs act as modulators of mRNA–mRNA interactions rather than as on–off molecular switches. We demonstrate such an important modulatory role for miRNAs in the biology of CNA-devoid breast cancers, a common subtype in which the immune response is prominent. These findings represent a new framework for studying the biology of miRNAs in human breast cancer.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-05
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12108
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
EGFR modulates microRNA maturation in response to hypoxia through phosphorylation of AGO2
- Authors: Jia Shen|Weiya Xia|Yekaterina B. Khotskaya|Longfei Huo|Kotaro Nakanishi|Seung-Oe Lim|Yi Du|Yan Wang|Wei-Chao Chang|Chung-Hsuan Chen|Jennifer L. Hsu|Yun Wu|Yung Carmen Lam|Brian P. James|Xiuping Liu|Chang-Gong Liu|Dinshaw J. Patel|Mien-Chie Hung
  Pages: 383 - 387
  Abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are generated by two-step processing to yield small RNAs that negatively regulate target gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Deregulation of miRNAs has been linked to diverse pathological processes, including cancer. Recent studies have also implicated miRNAs in the regulation of cellular response to a spectrum of stresses, such as hypoxia, which is frequently encountered in the poorly angiogenic core of a solid tumour. However, the upstream regulators of miRNA biogenesis machineries remain obscure, raising the question of how tumour cells efficiently coordinate and impose specificity on miRNA expression and function in response to stresses. Here we show that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which is the product of a well-characterized oncogene in human cancers, suppresses the maturation of specific tumour-suppressor-like miRNAs in response to hypoxic stress through phosphorylation of argonaute 2 (AGO2) at Tyr 393. The association between EGFR and AGO2 is enhanced by hypoxia, leading to elevated AGO2-Y393 phosphorylation, which in turn reduces the binding of Dicer to AGO2 and inhibits miRNA processing from precursor miRNAs to mature miRNAs. We also identify a long-loop structure in precursor miRNAs as a critical regulatory element in phospho-Y393-AGO2-mediated miRNA maturation. Furthermore, AGO2-Y393 phosphorylation mediates EGFR-enhanced cell survival and invasiveness under hypoxia, and correlates with poorer overall survival in breast cancer patients. Our study reveals a previously unrecognized function of EGFR in miRNA maturation and demonstrates how EGFR is likely to function as a regulator of AGO2 through novel post-translational modification. These findings suggest that modulation of miRNA biogenesis is important for stress response in tumour cells and has potential clinical implications.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-01
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12080
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Psl trails guide exploration and microcolony formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms
- Authors: Kun Zhao|Boo Shan Tseng|Bernard Beckerman|Fan Jin|Maxsim L. Gibiansky|Joe J. Harrison|Erik Luijten|Matthew R. Parsek|Gerard C. L. Wong
  Pages: 388 - 391
  Abstract: Bacterial biofilms are surface-associated, multicellular, morphologically complex microbial communities. Biofilm-forming bacteria such as the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa are phenotypically distinct from their free-swimming, planktonic counterparts. Much work has focused on factors affecting surface adhesion, and it is known that P. aeruginosa secretes the Psl exopolysaccharide, which promotes surface attachment by acting as ‘molecular glue’. However, how individual surface-attached bacteria self-organize into microcolonies, the first step in communal biofilm organization, is not well understood. Here we identify a new role for Psl in early biofilm development using a massively parallel cell-tracking algorithm to extract the motility history of every cell on a newly colonized surface. By combining this technique with fluorescent Psl staining and computer simulations, we show that P. aeruginosa deposits a trail of Psl as it moves on a surface, which influences the surface motility of subsequent cells that encounter these trails and thus generates positive feedback. Both experiments and simulations indicate that the web of secreted Psl controls the distribution of surface visit frequencies, which can be approximated by a power law. This Pareto-type behaviour indicates that the bacterial community self-organizes in a manner analogous to a capitalist economic system, a ‘rich-get-richer’ mechanism of Psl accumulation that results in a small number of ‘elite’ cells becoming extremely enriched in communally produced Psl. Using engineered strains with inducible Psl production, we show that local Psl concentrations determine post-division cell fates and that high local Psl concentrations ultimately allow elite cells to serve as the founding population for initial microcolony development.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-08
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12155
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Receptor binding by a ferret-transmissible H5 avian influenza virus
- Authors: Xiaoli Xiong|Peter J. Coombs|Stephen R. Martin|Junfeng Liu|Haixia Xiao|John W. McCauley|Kathrin Locher|Philip A. Walker|Patrick J. Collins|Yoshihiro Kawaoka|John J. Skehel|Steven J. Gamblin
  Pages: 392 - 396
  Abstract: Cell-surface-receptor binding by influenza viruses is a key determinant of their transmissibility, both from avian and animal species to humans as well as from human to human. Highly pathogenic avian H5N1 viruses that are a threat to public health have been observed to acquire affinity for human receptors, and transmissible-mutant-selection experiments have identified a virus that is transmissible in ferrets, the generally accepted experimental model for influenza in humans. Here, our quantitative biophysical measurements of the receptor-binding properties of haemagglutinin (HA) from the transmissible mutant indicate a small increase in affinity for human receptor and a marked decrease in affinity for avian receptor. From analysis of virus and HA binding data we have derived an algorithm that predicts virus avidity from the affinity of individual HA–receptor interactions. It reveals that the transmissible-mutant virus has a 200-fold preference for binding human over avian receptors. The crystal structure of the transmissible-mutant HA in complex with receptor analogues shows that it has acquired the ability to bind human receptor in the same folded-back conformation as seen for HA from the 1918, 1957 (ref. 4), 1968 (ref. 5) and 2009 (ref. 6) pandemic viruses. This binding mode is substantially different from that by which non-transmissible wild-type H5 virus HA binds human receptor. The structure of the complex also explains how the change in preference from avian to human receptors arises from the Gln226Leu substitution, which facilitates binding to human receptor but restricts binding to avian receptor. Both features probably contribute to the acquisition of transmissibility by this mutant virus.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-04-24
  DOI: 10.1038/nature12144
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Working in Asia: The siren song of Singapore
- Authors: Quirin Schiermeier
  Pages: 397 - 399
  Abstract: The city state offers opportunities for intrepid scientists, but working there has drawbacks.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/nj7449-397a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Turning point: Laura Deming
- Authors: Karen Kaplan
  Pages: 399 - 399
  Abstract: Fearless teen scientist dives into venture capital.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/nj7449-399a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
The plague
- Authors: Ken Liu
  Pages: 402 - 402
  Abstract: Lessons on life.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  PubDate: 2013-05-15
  DOI: 10.1038/497402a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449 (2013)
Human stem cells created by cloning
- Authors: David Cyranoski
  Pages: 295 - 296
  Abstract: Breakthrough sets up showdown with induced adult lines.
  Citation: Nature 497, 7449 (2013)
  DOI: 10.1038/497295a
  Issue No: Vol. 497, No. 7449