Table Of ContentVolume 437 Number 7061 pp927-1064
In this issue (13 October 2005)
Also this week
• Editorials • Editor's Summary
• Authors
• Research Highlights
• Nature Podcast
• News • Books and Arts
• News Features • News and Views
• Brief Communications
• Business
• Articles
• Correspondence
• Letters
• Naturejobs
• Futures
Editorials
Peace and honour p927
The 2005 Nobel Peace Prize is a timely reminder of the good work done by the International Atomic Energy
Agency and its director, Mohamed ElBaradei.
From rhetoric to reality p927
President Bush's acknowledgement of the threat of pandemic flu is welcome, if belated.
Advise the president p928
The merger of two White House advisory panels sends out the wrong message.
Research Highlights
Research highlights p930
News
US progressives fight for a voice in bioethics p932
Left-leaning think-tank aims to influence political decisions.
Erika Check
Nuclear group nabs peace prize p932
Jim Giles
Sidelines p933
More evidence for hobbit unearthed as diggers are refused access to cave p934
Excavations shed light on lifestyle of Homo floresiensis.
Rex Dalton
Indonesia struggles to control bird flu outbreak p937
As officials in Washington discuss how to tackle outbreaks of bird flu more effectively (see From rhetoric
to reality ), an outbreak in humans continues in Asia. Declan Butler assesses the situation in Indonesia,
and finds out how likely it is that the virus might evolve into a pandemic strain.
Declan Butler
Chemical exchange captures Nobel p938
Prize goes to trio who transformed organic synthesis.
Philip Ball
Ig Nobels hail world's longest-running experiment p938
Distinguished scientists gather in Boston for silliness awards.
Steve Nadis
News in brief p940
Correction p940
News Features
Drug discovery: Playing dirty p942
Forget drugs carefully designed to hit one particular molecule — a better way of treating complex diseases
such as cancer may be to aim for several targets at once, says Simon Frantz.
Conservation in Brazil: The forgotten ecosystem p944
Everyone knows about the Amazon rainforest, but Brazil's tropical savannah is arguably under greater threat.
Emma Marris visits a testing ground for future conservation strategies.
I
Neuroscience: The maestro of minds p946
With a mathematician's logic and the perfectionism of a concert pianist, Nikos Logothetis is making waves
in cognitive neuroscience — and putting the German town of Tübingen on the scientific map. Alison Abbott
pays him a visit.
Business
The technology trap p948
America's widely-admired system for transferring ideas from the lab to the marketplace is showing signs
of distress. Virginia Gewin reports.
Virginia Gewin
In brief p949
Market watch p949
Correspondence
Re-wilding: a bold plan that needs native megafauna p951
Martin A. Schlaepfer
Evolution was fine, just not in the case of humans p951
U Kutschera
NIH moved quickly to help researchers after Katrina p951
Elias Zerhouni
Indian players in some of IT and biotech's top teams p951
Mukund Mehrotra
System to rank scientists was pedalled by Jeffreys p951
A. W. F. Edwards
Books and Arts
Before the storm p953
Katrina grabbed the headlines recently, but hurricanes have been a focus of attention for centuries.
Howard B. Bluestein reviews Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes by Kerry Emanuel
Fetal affliction p954
Michael Sargent reviews The Fetal Matrix: Evolution, Development and Disease by Peter Gluckman and Mark
Hanson
Nuclear reactions p955
Brenda Howard reviews Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl by Mary Mycio
Exhibition: Collectors' items p955
News and Views
Palaeoanthropology: Further fossil finds from Flores p957
New fossil discoveries on Flores, Indonesia, bolster the evidence that Homo floresiensis was a dwarfed
human species that lived at the end of the last ice age. But the species' evolutionary origins remain
obscure.
Daniel E. Lieberman
Planetary science: The impact of Deep Impact p958
A good look at the Deep Impact cometary encounter was taken by the Rosetta mission, itself on the way
to a rendezvous with a comet in 2014. So what is a comet — icy dustball or dusty iceball?
Paul D. Feldman
Ecology: Roots of stability p959
The 'insurance hypothesis' holds that ecosystem diversity is a good thing because diversity confers overall
stability in the face of stressful conditions. Experiments on grassland support that view.
Peter D. Moore
Materials science: At a stretch p961
Rosamund Daw
Device physics: No-nuisance noise p962
'Silence is golden' is a maxim of limited applicability where stochastic resonance holds sway. The effect
uses noise to boost signal output in certain systems — and has just been seen in oscillators on a very
small scale.
Adi R. Bulsara
Developmental biology: Cell cycle unleashed p963
How does fertilization cause animal eggs to begin embryonic development? Following entry of the sperm,
the ingeniously regulated degradation of a protein seems to kick-start the stalled cell cycle.
Takeo Kishimoto
II
50 & 100 years ago p963
Plant physiology: A big issue for trees p965
The age of a tree and its size tend to increase together. Disentangling the effects of these two factors
on tree vitality is no easy task, but further evidence adds to the view that it is size that matters.
Josep Peñuelas
Brief Communications
Culinary archaeology: Millet noodles in Late Neolithic China p967
A remarkable find allows the reconstruction of the earliest recorded preparation of noodles.
Houyuan Lu, Xiaoyan Yang, Maolin Ye, Kam-Biu Liu, Zhengkai Xia, Xiaoyan Ren, Linhai Cai, Naiqin Wu
and Tung-Sheng Liu
Microwave devices: Carbon nanotubes as cold cathodes p968
Kenneth B. K. Teo, Eric Minoux, Ludovic Hudanski, Franck Peauger, Jean-Philippe Schnell, Laurent Gangloff,
Pierre Legagneux, Dominique Dieumegard, Gehan A. J. Amaratunga and William I. Milne
Articles
Implications for prediction and hazard assessment from the 2004 Parkfield earthquake
p969
W. H. Bakun, B. Aagaard, B. Dost, W. L. Ellsworth, J. L. Hardebeck, R. A. Harris, C. Ji, M. J. S. Johnston,
J. Langbein, J. J. Lienkaemper, A. J. Michael, J. R. Murray, R. M. Nadeau, P. A. Reasenberg, M. S. Reichle,
E. A. Roeloffs, A. Shakal, R. W. Simpson and F. Waldhauser
Plectasin is a peptide antibiotic with therapeutic potential from a saprophytic fungus p975
Per H. Mygind, Rikke L. Fischer, Kirk M. Schnorr, Mogens T. Hansen, Carsten P. Sönksen, Svend Ludvigsen,
Dorotea Raventós, Steen Buskov, Bjarke Christensen, Leonardo De Maria, Olivier Taboureau, Debbie Yaver,
Signe G. Elvig-Jørgensen, Marianne V. Sørensen, Bjørn E. Christensen, Søren Kjærulff, Niels Frimodt-Moller,
Robert I. Lehrer, Michael Zasloff and Hans-Henrik Kristensen
The N-end rule pathway as a nitric oxide sensor controlling the levels of multiple
regulators p981
Rong-Gui Hu, Jun Sheng, Xin Qi, Zhenming Xu, Terry T. Takahashi and Alexander Varshavsky
Letters
A large dust/ice ratio in the nucleus of comet 9P/Tempel 1 p987
Michael Küppers, Ivano Bertini, Sonia Fornasier, Pedro J. Gutierrez, Stubbe F. Hviid, Laurent Jorda, Horst
Uwe Keller, Jörg Knollenberg, Detlef Koschny, Rainer Kramm, Luisa-Maria Lara, Holger Sierks, Nicolas
Thomas, Cesare Barbieri, Philippe Lamy, Hans Rickman, Rafael Rodrigo and The OSIRIS team
Geology and insolation-driven climatic history of Amazonian north polar materials on Mars
p991
Kenneth L. Tanaka
Coherent signal amplification in bistable nanomechanical oscillators by stochastic
resonance p995
Robert L. Badzey and Pritiraj Mohanty
Synthesis and properties of crosslinked recombinant pro-resilin p999
Christopher M. Elvin, Andrew G. Carr, Mickey G. Huson, Jane M. Maxwell, Roger D. Pearson, Tony Vuocolo,
Nancy E. Liyou, Darren C. C. Wong, David J. Merritt and Nicholas E. Dixon
Climatic controls on central African hydrology during the past 20,000 years p1003
Enno Schefu , Stefan Schouten and Ralph R. Schneider
The earliest dromaeosaurid theropod from South America p1007
Peter J. Makovicky, Sebastián Apesteguía and Federico L. Agnolín
Further evidence for small-bodied hominins from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia
p1012
M. J. Morwood, P. Brown, Jatmiko, T. Sutikna, E. Wahyu Saptomo, K. E. Westaway, Rokus Awe Due, R. G. Roberts,
T. Maeda, S. Wasisto and T. Djubiantono
Vertebrate Smoothened functions at the primary cilium p1018
Kevin C. Corbit, Pia Aanstad, Veena Singla, Andrew R. Norman, Didier Y. R. Stainier and Jeremy F. Reiter
SERRATE coordinates shoot meristem function and leaf axial patterning in Arabidopsis
p1022
Stephen P. Grigg, Claudia Canales, Angela Hay and Miltos Tsiantis
Repeated cocaine exposure in vivo facilitates LTP induction in midbrain dopamine neurons
p1027
Qing-song Liu, Lu Pu and Mu-ming Poo
A network-based analysis of systemic inflammation in humans p1032
Steve E. Calvano, Wenzhong Xiao, Daniel R. Richards, Ramon M. Felciano, Henry V. Baker, Raymond J. Cho,
Richard O. Chen, Bernard H. Brownstein, J. Perren Cobb, S. Kevin Tschoeke, Carol Miller-Graziano, Lyle
III
L. Moldawer, Michael N. Mindrinos, Ronald W. Davis, Ronald G. Tompkins, Stephen F. Lowry and Inflamm and
Host Response to Injury Large Scale Collab. Res. Program
Chromosome nondisjunction yields tetraploid rather than aneuploid cells in human cell
lines p1038
Qinghua Shi and Randall W. King
Cytokinesis failure generating tetraploids promotes tumorigenesis in p53-null cells p1043
Takeshi Fujiwara, Madhavi Bandi, Masayuki Nitta, Elena V. Ivanova, Roderick T. Bronson and David Pellman
Calcium triggers exit from meiosis II by targeting the APC/C inhibitor XErp1 for
degradation p1048
Nadine R. Rauh, Andreas Schmidt, Jenny Bormann, Erich A. Nigg and Thomas U. Mayer
Solution structure of a protein denatured state and folding intermediate p1053
T. L. Religa, J. S. Markson, U. Mayor, S. M. V. Freund and A. R. Fersht
Retraction: RNA-interference-directed chromatin modification coupled to RNA polymerase
II transcription p1057
Vera Schramke, Daniel M. Sheedy, Ahmet M. Denli, Carolina Bonila, Karl Ekwall, Gregory J. Hannon and Robin
C. Allshire
Retraction: Negative lattice expansion from the superconductivity–antiferromagnetism
crossover in ruthenium copper oxides p1057
A. C. Mclaughlin, F. Sher and J. P. Attfield
Retraction: Formation of zirconium metallic glass p1057
Jianzhong Zhang and Yusheng Zhao
Naturejobs
Prospect
The exception to the rule p1059
Just how level should the playing field be for postdoc pay scales?
Paul Smaglik
Region
Primed for a biotech boom p1060
Biologists in Osaka think that their city's 'un-Japanese' culture makes it the ideal part of the country
to become a hub for biotechnology. David Cyranoski investigates.
David Cyranoski
Futures
Toy planes p1064
Tobias S. Buckell
IV
13.10 Editorial 927 McP 11/10/05 2:59 PM Page 927
www.nature.com/nature Vol 437 |Issue no. 7061 |13 October 2005
Peace and honour
The 2005 Nobel Peace Prize is a timely reminder of the good work done by the International Atomic Energy
Agency and its director, Mohamed ElBaradei.
R
ecipients of the Nobel Peace Prize have not always met with implemented the additional protocol, but others — including the
universal approval, but the 2005 award to the International United States, Russia and Iran — have yet to do so.
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its director, Mohamed Second, the agency should be given more support to help it secure
ElBaradei, is both timely and appropriate. nuclear facilities and recover missing nuclear materials. At present,
Since it was set up within the United Nations in 1957, the IAEA the agency’s directorate for safety and security, which oversees such
has sought to slow the spread of nuclear weapons while allowing activities, has a budget of just US$22.4 million per year — a meagre
nations access to the peaceful use of nuclear technology. In the past amount for such a complex and important task. Given the frequency
few years, it has played an important role in verifying adherence to of nuclear materials trafficking, nations should be prepared to
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and restricting the spread of sharply increase this budget. The agency is not meant to be a nuclear
weapons technology. But with greater support from governments, police force, but more funding would allow it to help member states
it could do far more. ensure the security of their own nuclear materials, while continuing
At a time when nuclear non-proliferation faces several acute recovery operations in the countries in the former Soviet Union,
challenges, the IAEA has managed to maintain its reputation as an which are riddled with abandoned sources.
impartial arbiter on nuclear issues. This is due in large part to the Finally, nations should give serious consideration to ElBaradei’s
performance of ElBaradei, an Egyptian-born lawyer and diplomat, proposal that the world’s nuclear-fuel stockpiles be put under the
who has fought fiercely to maintain the agency’s independence. One stewardship of his agency. Such
“Nations should give
of his finest hours was in 2001, when he refused to confirm the Bush a proposal may sound radical,
serious consideration to
administration’s contention that the Iraqi government had restarted but if implemented carefully, it
ElBaradei’s proposal that
its nuclear programme. In a testament to his diplomatic acumen, could go a long way towards
ElBaradei survived a subsequent US attempt to oust him from his ensuring that most of the world’s the world’s nuclear-fuel
directorship, and was reappointed to a third term by unanimous nuclear material is accounted stockpiles be put under the
consent in June. for. More importantly, placing
stewardship of his agency.”
But the IAEA could do a lot more to confront nuclear threats if the the distribution of nuclear fuel
national governments whose contributions keep it going allowed under an international authority would discredit the claims of
it funding and authority equal to its task. countries such as Iran and Brazil that they must develop dual-use,
First and foremost, the IAEA should be given wider powers to nuclear fuel technology to meet their domestic energy needs.
enforce the non-proliferation treaty (see Nature435,132; 2005). All these steps will require the commitment of the IAEA’s mem-
Under a proposed modification to the treaty, the IAEA’s powers to ber states. Unfortunately, the most important players are unable to
inspect facilities would be strengthened and its remit to analyse agree on how to move the agency forward. The award of this year’s
nations’ nuclear intentions widened. Most parties to the treaty have peace prize should serve as a wake-up call for them. ■
From rhetoric to reality than 80 countries to take the plan forward, and then sat down with
the heads of the vaccine industry. The Senate has approved $3.9 bil-
lion to fight avian flu, with $3 billion of it going on a US stockpile of
President Bush’s acknowledgement of the threat of
antivirals. And Michael Leavitt, the health secretary, has gone on a
pandemic flu is welcome, if belated. ten-day trip to meet officials in affected countries in southeast Asia.
But behind this activity, there are disconcerting gaps between the
R
esearchers have long warned of the threat of an avian flu official discourse and reality. US officials have correctly identified
pandemic. The message has been taken on board by some promptly stamping out outbreaks as a top priority, emphasizing the
politicians, notably in Canada, Britain and Australia. But the need for affected countries to share data and samples. This is an
past few weeks have seen an unprecedented flurry of top-level US important issue, but what can the coalition do if China and Vietnam,
diplomatic activity about flu, prompted in large part by recognition for example, refuse to share data? And even more urgently required
of the fact that the public would not tolerate an inadequate response are funds to build surveillance capacity in vulnerable countries, and
to another major catastrophe after Hurricane Katrina. to eradicate the disease in livestock.
Last month, George Bush told the United Nations that the United The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization esti-
States would be at the centre of an international coalition to fight the mated in February that a minimum of $100 million is needed to
threat of a pandemic. Last week, he convened officials from more begin tackling the problem effectively. But so far, a few countries
927
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EDITORIALS NATURE|Vol 437|13 October 2005
(including the United States) have pledged a total of just $16.5 mil- rejected by the WHO, which recently obtained a donation of 3 mil-
lion. The outbreak teams of the World Health Organization (WHO) lion courses from Roche.
are dwarfed by the challenge facing them. With few drugs on the horizon, US officials are stressing that the
Many scientists in affected countries are reluctant to cooperate key weapon in the event of a pandemic will be a vaccine, and that the
with what often seems to them a one-way street. Hospitals in these biggest bottleneck is in industry’s capacity to produce it in sufficient
countries often have barely enough antivirals to treat existing cases, quantities. But the vaccine in question is a prototype. It requires such
and lack diagnostics. A better atmosphere for sharing will only come huge doses that, even if the entire world vaccine production capacity
if rich nations offer these countries true cooperation and substantial of 900 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine antigen were switched
aid in research and health infrastructure to deal with outbreaks. to making it, just 75 million doses could be manufactured. In con-
US officials have in the past weeks made strident warnings about trast, antigen-sparing strategies using adjuvants could allow from
the lack of preparedness for a pandemic, while simultaneously 1 billion to 7 billion doses to be produced, and this is why all efforts
giving overly reassuring messages that the job is now well in hand. should be directed to this goal.
“The frontline would be
Much of the $3.9 billion in the Senate bill would go towards buying Although research into new
in communities and
drugs, for example. But US officials have neglected to mention that vaccines and drugs may help us
the United States currently has only enough drugs ordered to cover fight pandemics better several hospitals, so this is where
1% of its population. Ten countries already have drugs ordered to years down the line, the front- governments need to focus
cover 25–40% of their populations, but it will be several years before line of a pandemic would be
their disaster planning.”
the United States can match this, as it is at the back of the queue at in communities and hospitals,
the door of Roche, the sole supplier of Tamiflu. so this is where governments need to focus their disaster planning.
Roche’s monopoly on the drug, and its inability to ramp up pro- For example, taps anddoor knobs in washrooms are a significant
duction swiftly to meet demand, are themselves cause for concern. route of flu transmission. Converting them to be pushed or opened
UN secretary-general Kofi Annan last week hinted that countries with an elbow, as in surgical areas of hospitals, could cut transmis-
might use compulsory licences to produce the drug off-patent, argu- sion during a pandemic.
ing that intellectual-property rights should not be allowed to get in Vaccines and antiviral drugs deserve top-level attention. But so
the way of access by the poor to medication. This option has been too do much simpler means of protecting citizens. ■
Advise the president Floyd Kvamme, a venture capitalist who co-chairs PCAST with
John Marburger, the president’s science adviser, says the new panel
will operate much as before, with the new work delegated to appro-
The merger of two White House advisory panels
priate subcommittees. But unless the panel becomes considerably
sends out the wrong message. more active, its new role overseeing all the information-technology
research initiatives in the federal government may mean that less
T
he US President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Tech- time and resources are available to work on science issues. This
nology (PCAST) has rarely fulfilled the full potential of its marks a continuation of the tendency of the Bush administration to
nominal role, which is to provide the most powerful elected marginalize the voices of science in its internal deliberations.
official in the world with scientific advice. One of the difficulties that will always face a body such as PCAST
In theory, the presidentially appointed panel could keep the is the sheer vastness of the territory it is supposed to cover. These
president informed on key science- and technology-related issues, days, advice on specific scien-
“The president’s discretion
ranging from avian flu and global warming to computer viruses and tific questions will often require
in appointing the panel
nuclear-weapons proliferation. detailed specializations that few
In practice, however, the panel has never lived up to that ideal. It PCAST members will possess. himself is not conducive
came closest, perhaps, under the first President Bush, who graced At the same time, there is a to the delivery of solid
PCAST meetings with his presence. The panel was active but not tendency for officially desig- or unwelcome advice.”
particularly influential under Bill Clinton, and has been almost nated advisory bodies that are
invisible under the current president. required by US law to meet in public — such as PCAST — to shun
So the news that PCAST is to be merged with another, even more robust discussion of substantive issues. Finally, the president’s dis-
obscure panel, the President’s Information Technology Advisory cretion in appointing the entire panel himself is not conducive to the
Committee (PITAC), will make few waves. Nonetheless, the amal- delivery of solid and occasionally unwelcome advice.
gamation of the panels, and the expansion of the possible number of PCAST is the latest in a series of similar panels stretching back to
members from 25 to an unwieldy 45, portends a possible weaken- the administration of Harry Truman. Some have been more active
ing of the voice of science in the White House. and influential than others, depending largely on the president’s own
PCAST has already confined itself to the relative arcana of science interest in science and his relationship with the chief science adviser.
policy. At the moment, for example, it is evaluating the effectiveness Perhaps a future administration will develop the committee’s role
of the National Nanotechnology Initiative — a worthwhile exercise, and profile instead of neglecting it — but even then, the panel’s pre-
but hardly one that is likely to grab the president’s attention. eminence will last only as long at that president’s term in office. ■
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Vol 437|13 October 2005
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
TI
N
Glimmer boys A
RIS
C
A.
Nature Biotechnol. doi:10.1038/nbt1152 (2005) &
A
Biologists have genetically engineered CI
C
U
mosquitoes to produce males with sperm that R
TE
glows. The point? The fluorescent gonads AT
C
make it possible to separate males from F.
females at an early stage of larval development.
Insect control strategies often depend on
the release of sterile insects. But in
mosquitoes, females are the transmitters of
malaria, so it is important to release only
males. The glowing genitalia offer a way to
isolate a male-only population that can then
be sterilized and let out into the wild. The
researchers at Imperial College London, led by
Andrea Crisanti, carried out their experiments
on the mosquito Anopheles stephensi (larva
pictured right), which is the principal vector of
human malaria in Asia.
CELL BIOLOGY cholesterol and lipid-processing. The work Like other ermgenes, which are found in
Lipids link to Alzheimer’s should help to explain the association that a diverse range of pathogenic bacteria, the
has been noticed between Alzheimer’s and erm(37) homologue in M. tuberculosis
Nature Cell Biol.doi:10.1038/ncb1313 (2005) high cholesterol levels. encodes a methlytransferase enzyme with a
Elevated levels of the amyloid beta peptide highly targeted action. By adding a methyl
(A(cid:1)) are known to lead to the formation of MOLECULAR ELECTRONICS group to a particular nucleotide in a specific
brain plaques (pictured below, damaged areas Rattling chains ribosomal RNA sequence, this enzyme
in brown) in Alzheimer’s disease. But the confers resistance to older macrolide
normal function of A(cid:1)has been a mystery. Phys. Rev. B72,121405(R) (2005) antibiotics, such as erythromycin, but not to
Now a study reveals a role for it in regulating The way molecular vibrations affect the flow the newer ketolides.
lipid metabolism. of electrons through a chain of atoms has been Researchers led by Stephen Douthwaite of
Tobias Hartmann of the Centre for captured in a new charge transport model. the University of Southern Denmark, Odense,
Molecular Biology in Heidelberg, Germany, Developed by researchers from Ohio now show that ketolide resistance arises from
and his colleagues engineered cells from University in the United States and from the the imprecise action of erm(37)’s enzyme. The
mice to lack the machinery that makes A(cid:1). Pontifical Catholic University in Rio de enzyme encoded by the truncated gene slips
These cells ended up containing large Janeiro, Brazil, the model takes into account along its RNA target, adding extra methyl
YR/SPL amTohuen rtess oefa crchhoelersst aelrsool iadnedn ltiipfyid As.(cid:1) ’s targets: thhoew r ethpeu lmsivoele ecfufelec’sts v bibertwateioenns e, lceacltlreodns, and groups to neighbouring nucleotides.
H
ZEP two enzymes that are both involved in phonons, affect the energy levels that the IMMUNOLOGY
electrons can occupy. This makes it more Neurons enter the fray
realistic than previous models, which focused
on only one of these two interactions. J. Virol. 79,12893–12904 (2005)
The researchers found that vibrations can Human neurons are capable of sensing and
open unexpected transport channels, which responding to viral infection, finds a group
allow electrons to hop between atoms, or they led by Monique Lafon at the Pasteur Institute
can block the electrons’ flow. These in Paris.
observations may help in modelling the Previously, it was thought that neurons
behaviour of electrical components made relied on infection being detected by their
from single molecules. companion glial cells. But Lafon’s group
discovered that infecting neurons with rabies
ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE virus; a herpes virus; or with double-stranded
Short enzyme stymies drug RNA, a molecular signature of RNA viruses,
switched on genes involved in immunity.
J. Biol. Chem. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M505727200 (2005) Neurons were also found to express the
The troublesome resistance of members of protein Toll-like receptor 3, which recognizes
the Mycobacterium tuberculosiscomplex to and responds to double-stranded RNA.
a new class of macrolide antibiotics called Double-stranded RNA could therefore be
ketolides stems from a truncated form of a the trigger that turns on the innate immune
gene called erm. response in human neurons.
© 2005 Nature PublishingGroup
©2005 Nature Publishing Group
13.10 Research highlights MH 7/10/05 4:50 PM Page 931
NATURE|Vol 437|13 October 2005 RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
JOURNAL CLUB
CELL BIOLOGY or simply boost the levels of the protein
Comfortably numb encoded by that gene. All mechanisms seem Bruno Sicardy
to be equally important. Paris Observatory, and Pierre
J. Neurosci.25, 8924–8937 (2005) and Marie Curie University, Paris
Camphor, the pungent active ingredient of PROTEIN STRUCTURE
An astronomer tells of the
mothballs, produces a warming sensation Skipping the G spot
missing link in Saturn’s rings.
and mild local anaesthesia when applied to
the skin. But although camphor has been Science309,2219–2222 (2005) The number of satellites known to
used therapeutically for centuries, its mode The protein pictured below has a remarkable be roaming between Saturn’s rings
of action has only just been uncovered. ability: it can stand in for a genetic base when and its moon Enceladus has soared
Using rat neurons, David Clapham and his DNA is being copied. By deciphering the over the past few decades as
colleagues at the Howard Hughes Medical crystal structure of the protein, Aneel telescopes and instruments have
Institute in Boston showed that camphor Aggarwal of the Mount Sinai School of improved. With the arrival
works in the same way as capsaicin. This is Medicine in New York and his colleagues, of spacecraft, such as the current
the ‘hot’ compound in chilli peppers, and also have shed light on orbiter Cassini, satellites are even
a mild analgesic. Both substances activate, how it performs being discovered very near or
and subsequently numb, the heat-sensitive this unexpected inside the rings themselves.
TRPV1 receptor of sensory neurons. role. Recently, Carolyn Porco of the
Camphor was also found to inhibit the Space Science Institute, Boulder,
cold-sensitive TRPA1 receptor. and her colleagues in the Cassini
imaging team revealed sixnew
MATERIAL SCIENCE moons in the ring region —
Bonds writ large typically no more than 5km across
(C. C. Porco et al. Science307,
Appl. Phys. Lett.87,131903 (2005) 1226–1236; 2005). Since this paper
Even big cracks start small: the collapse of a was published, a seventh moon has
bridge begins with the breaking of atomic been detected in the narrow Keeler
bonds at the tip of a flaw. But studying real gap, which lies inside the A ring.
materials at an atomic scale during fracture These new moons may hint
is very challenging. So Francisco Emmerich The Rev1 AS at a missing link between the
A
A
of the Federal University of Espirito Santo protein makes M collisional, fluid-like rings and fully
O
in Brazil is offering an alternative. He has sure that damage D FR formed satellites. Some of them
designed a scaled-up solid, using bar magnets to guanine (G) TE have a surprisingly low density, and
stacked in a brick-wall arrangement and bases in a DNA template can be bypassed. DAP their discovery has blurred the
A
separated by layers of foam. Without the protein, a spoilt base would distinction between what is a
The model solid closely mimics the forces block gene replication. Aggarwal’s structure satellite and what is merely a
between atoms. Experiments using it show shows yeast Rev1 bound to a template G clumpy aggregate of dust.
that catastrophic failure always starts in the (violet) in a DNA helix (grey). The protein Porco et al. estimated the density
same way: two of the magnets at the crack tip evicts the base from the helix and attracts the of some other moonlets by looking
jump apart to a critical separation. This may G’s partner, a cytosine (C) base, to bind to at the ripples they excite in the
be equivalent to a chemical bond breaking at itself. This means the C, carried by the rings. For instance, Atlas, which
the atomic scale. molecule dCTP (red), gets incorporated into orbits just 900km outside the
the new DNA strand in the right place. main rings, has a density of
EVOLUTIONARY GENETICS 0.5gcm(cid:2)3. This is in the same
Copy and save CANCER ballpark as the values my
Extra control on suicide colleagues and I obtained using
Genome Res.15,1421–1430 (2005) Earth-based observations for the
A key question in genetics is how extra copies Cell123,49–63 (2005) familiar moons, Prometheus and
of genes manage to persist in an organism. The p53 gene controls cell suicide and Pandora (S. Renner et al. Icarus174,
When a gene becomes duplicated, one copy division, helping to stop cells becoming 230–240; 2005).
often gets deleted or inactivated. But cancerous. After DNA damage, levels of the The region just outside the main
sometimes both remain intact. p53 protein increase. This happens because rings of Saturn is acting as a natural
To find out more, Uwe Sauer and his team the protein is destroyed less quickly, but also, laboratory where we can admire
at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology says Michael Kastan, because p53 translation short-lived, loose and fluffy
in Zurich used computer modelling and increases. Kastan and his colleagues at the aggregrates as they emerge
quantitative biochemical experiments to StJude Children’s Research Hospital in from their native rings. I expect
study 105 families of duplicated genes in the Memphis, Tennessee, found that ribosomal that a continuous collision and
yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. protein L26 binds to p53 messenger RNA and re-accretion process transforms
They found that spares adopt four survival enhances its translation into protein. They rings into satellites and vice versa
strategies: a copy can act as a backup, develop also found a second protein, nucleolin, which with turnover times of a few tens of
a new function, become regulated differently inhibits p53 translation. millions of years.
931
© 2005 Nature PublishingGroup
©2005 Nature Publishing Group
Vol 437|13 October 2005
NEWS
US progressives fight The Terri Schiavo case polarized
opinions on life support and brought
bioethics to the forefront of politics.
for a voice in bioethics
WASHINGTON DC president that human cloning “carries with it a
Conservative bioethicists often provide intel- number of troubling consequences for chil-
lectual ammunition for US politicians on dren, family, and society”.
major issues ranging from stem-cell research The progressive bioethicists say they plan to
to right-to-die decisions. Now several promi- study topics not often covered by conserva-
nent researchers are joining forces to promote tives — such as inequities in the healthcare
different scientific values in public debate. system. These inequities were highlighted by
Arguing that conservative bioethics is out of Hurricane Katrina, which left thousands of
step with most Americans, the group is form- poor African-Americans stranded without
ing a ‘progressive’ movement to influence federal assistance for almost a week. “Progres-
discussions of scientific and sive bioethics has to talk about
“Progressive
medical topics. “It is important those who are left behind and left
for progressive bioethics to bioethics has to out,” says Vanessa Gamble of
enter the political fray,” says talk about those Tuskegee University in Alabama.
Arthur Caplan, an ethicist at And the group hopes to avoid
who are left out.”
the University of Pennsylvania, the political missteps that have
Philadelphia. sometimes resulted from conserv-
On 3October, members of the group set out ative approaches. Public opinion polls found
key elements of their approach at a meeting that the Republican efforts to keep Schiavo
at the Center for American Progress, a left- alive were unpopular. The Schiavo debate may
leaning think-tank in Washington DC that is have influenced the Center for American
helping to start the movement. They define Progress to become more involved in ethics,
themselves in part by what they oppose: the adds Jonathan Moreno, who was on sabbatical
conservative stance embraced by Republican there at the time. “I think they saw that it was ment welcome both Democrats and Republi-
political leaders, by right-leaning think-tanks, useful to have someone like me around to put cans, saying they think ethical issues should
and by the President’s Council on Bioethics a different frame on these issues than was remain bipartisan. But the group’s members
under Leon Kass, who led the council until being set out by the conservative media,” says have supported positions taken by many
1October (see Nature437,307; 2005). Moreno, now a fellow at the centre. Democratic politicians. And the president
But the progressive group hopes to emulate Leaders in the progressive-bioethics move- of the Center for American Progress, John
the conservatives’ success in influencing pub-
lic policy. Conservative bioethicists have set up
a network of think-tanks and journals that Nuclear group nabs peace prize
issue position papers, book media appear-
ances and hold meetings with politicians.
These strategies have shaped the Republican
response in debates over stem-cell research The 2005 choice, say nuclear-policy experts, AP
and the right-to-die case of Florida’s Terri is equally entrenched in politics. HA/
A
Schiavo. Caplan and others were outraged The winners, announced on 7 October, R. BL
when Republican leaders fought to keep are the International Atomic Energy Agency
Schiavo on life support against her husband’s (IAEA) and its director, Mohamed
wishes. “Nothing could make clearer the dif- ElBaradei. Although the agency is tasked
ference between progressive and conservative with impartiality while monitoring the
bioethics,” says Caplan. potential spread of nuclear weapons, it
Ethicists at the meeting say that their Nobel leader — has been at the centre of political disputes
approach is optimistic about science and tech- Mohamed ElBaradei involving Iraq and Iran. Observers say
nology. “Progressive bioethics opens itself that the prize is a signal from the Nobel
to change,” says Alta Charo of the University Of all the Nobel prizes, the award for peace committee that the agency has maintained
of Wisconsin, Madison. The conservative is the most political. After France resumed neutrality during these rows.
approach, they argue, often focuses on how nuclear testing in June 1995, the Nobel Before the Iraq war, IAEA staff said there
technology could adversely affectthe essence committee awarded that year’s prize to was no evidence for an ongoing nuclear-
of humanity. In a letter accompanying a nuclear disarmament campaigner Joseph weapons programme in the country, a view
2002 report from the President’s Council Rotblat and his creation, the Pugwash vindicated by coalition inspectors after the
on Bioethics, for example, Kass told the US Conferences on Science and World Affairs. war began. The agency is asking for more
932
©2005 Nature Publishing Group
NATURE|Vol 437|13 October 2005 NEWS
ON THE RECORD
“We’re uplifted. But
they told us there were
going to be free drinks,
AP and there aren’t any.”
A/
AR A member of staff at the International
ME Atomic Energy Agency reacts after
O'
C. the organization wins the Nobel
Peace Prize.
“My discoveries are
40 years old, and I am
an old man.”
Chemist Yves Chauvin describes why
he felt “embarrassment, not joy” on
winning the Nobel prize.
Source: Nature, Der Spiegel
SCORECARD
Adult stem cells
The Catholic Church in
South Korea has found
a way to avoid controversy over
embryonic stem-cell research.
It is planning to spend
US$10million on adult
stem-cell studies.
Bird flu
A San Diego entrepreneur
may ruffle feathers with a
line of avian flu-themed clothing.
Among the offerings: a ‘Bird Flu
Tour’ T-shirt and baseball caps
sporting the logo ‘Pandemic Fever
Podesta, is a key Democratic strategist who But even he isn’t sure whether bioethical
— Catch It!’
served as chief of staff when Bill Clinton was issues are important enough to sway the votes
president of the United States. of Americans. That, he says, “is a political
“There’s a need to re-establish the scientific question that will work itself out over the next OVERHYPED
voice as a voice of fact and reason in the public couple of years”. ■
Abstinence-only education
dialogue,” claims Podesta. Erika Check
US health officials in the Bush
administration say avoiding sex is
good, but Representative Henry
Waxman (Democrat, California)
time to continue its work in Iran, but fears the prize will at least make it harder for
isn’t convinced by their reasoning.
that its inspections may be curtailed because countries to ignore ElBaradei’s pleas for
Last week, Waxman charged that
of US demands to refer Iran to the United more funding. The agency has what
the National Abstinence
Nations security council. ElBaradei calls a “shoestring” inspection
Clearinghouse — the main group
“This year’s prize is clearly intended as a budget of US$100million a year.
set up to evaluate abstinence-
signal of support for multilateral diplomacy Others suggest that the award could
promoting programmes — is
and inspections, rather than the use of strengthen the IAEA’s position in arguments
scientifically unsound. He cited
military force,” says Rebecca Johnson, about whether inspections, or tougher
several of the group’s official S
director of the Acronym Institute for measures such as sanctions or military statements, including:
Disarmament Diplomacy in London. force, are the best way to deal with countries ”Sex therapists consider E
The award was also a major boost for IAEA with alleged nuclear-weapons ambitions. masturbation the first stage of
N
scientists who inspect nuclear facilities. But that is wishful thinking given the sexual addiction for sex addicts.”
Spokeswoman Melissa Fleming says that staff current US government’s antipathy towards ”Pictures of external genitalia
I
at the agency’s Vienna headquarters were ElBaradei, says Michael Levi, an arms- in any form, whether diseased
L
shocked and then jubilant on hearing of the control expert at King’s College London. or healthy, can be detrimental to
award. ElBaradei had taken the day off, but “The award is not going to change the the health of young men and E
hurried into the office after hearing of his credibility of the IAEA in the United States,” women’s minds.”
D
prize on television news. he says. “The people who don’t like the The clearinghouse’s stated
Is the award likely to result in anything agency don’t like the Nobel Peace Prize.” ■ goal is to “promote the
I
more permanent than a glow of pride? Jim Giles appreciation for and practice S
Fleming is cautious, but says that See Editorial, page 927. of sexual abstinence”.
933
©2005 Nature Publishing Group
