Agriculture: Engage farmers in research
A new wave of small-scale agricultural innovation will boost yields and protect the planet, contend Tom MacMillan and Tim G. Benton.
Policy: Regulate embryos made for research
As technical barriers fall, the United States should adapt existing measures to govern the generation of human embryos for research, says Insoo Hyun.
Science biography: A voyage round Newton
Mordechai Feingold savours a study on how the fitful release of the scientist's papers shaped his reputation.
Review of The Newton Papers: The Strange and True Odyssey of Isaac Newton's Manuscripts
Sarah Dry
Space policy: A clearer final frontier
David Southwood finds that a study on safeguarding space is shorter on cooperation than conflict.
Review of Crowded Orbits: Conflict and Cooperation in Space
James Clay Moltz
Ecology: Drought in the Congo Basin
Jeffrey Q. Chambers &
Dar A. Roberts
See also
Letter by Zhou et al.
Applied physics: Bright electron twisters
Jun Yuan
Neuroscience: Feedback throttled down for smooth moves
Stephen H. Scott &
Frédéric Crevecoeur
See also
Article by Fink et al.
Geophysics: Making the Earth move
Rob L. Evans
See also
Letter by Sifré et al.
50 & 100 Years Ago
Astronomy: A new spin on exoplanets
Travis Barman
See also
Letter by Snellen et al.
Articles
Top
Presynaptic inhibition of spinal sensory feedback ensures smooth movement
Andrew J. P. Fink,
Katherine R. Croce,
Z. Josh Huang,
L. F. Abbott,
Thomas M. Jessell
+ et al.
A population of spinal interneurons that form axo–axonic connections with the terminals of proprioceptive afferents are shown to mediate presynaptic inhibition; their ablation elicits harmonic oscillations during goal-directed forelimb movements, which can be modelled as the consequence of an increase in sensory feedback gain.
See also
News & Views by Scott & Crevecoeur
Haematopoietic stem cells require a highly regulated protein synthesis rate
Robert A. J. Signer,
Jeffrey A. Magee,
Adrian Salic &
Sean J. Morrison
Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have a lower rate of protein synthesis in vivo than most other haematopoietic cells, and both increases and decreases in the rate of protein synthesis impair HSC function, demonstrating that HSC maintenance—and hence, cellular homeostasis—requires the rate of protein synthesis to be highly regulated.
Developmental pathway for potent V1V2-directed HIV-neutralizing antibodies
Nicole A. Doria-Rose,
Chaim A. Schramm,
Jason Gorman,
Penny L. Moore,
Jinal N. Bhiman
+ et al.
A longitudinal study of an individual patient developing neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1 (targeting the V1V2 region of gp120) reveals how such neutralizing antibodies develop and evolve over time, providing important insights relevant to vaccine development.
Letters
Top
Fast spin of the young extrasolar planet β Pictoris b
Ignas A. G. Snellen,
Bernhard R. Brandl,
Remco J. de Kok,
Matteo Brogi,
Jayne Birkby
+ et al.
Near-infrared spectroscopic observations of the young extrasolar planet β Pictoris b indicate that it spins significantly faster than any planet in the Solar System, in line with the extrapolation of the known trend in spin velocity with planet mass.
See also
News & Views by Barman
Molecular photons interfaced with alkali atoms
Petr Siyushev,
Guilherme Stein,
Jörg Wrachtrup &
Ilja Gerhardt
Single organic dye molecules have high-flux, narrow-bandwidth single-photon emission and can be spectrally matched to the transitions of atoms acting as a quantum memory, making them promising for use in quantum information and communication schemes.
Spontaneous transfer of chirality in an atropisomerically enriched two-axis system
Kimberly T. Barrett,
Anthony J. Metrano,
Paul R. Rablen &
Scott J. Miller
An enantioselective reaction involving a molecule with two axes of stereochemical consequence produces four stereoisomers, and rather than racemizing as the system approaches equilibrium, one of the diastereomeric pairs drifts spontaneously to a higher enantiomeric ratio.
North Atlantic forcing of tropical Indian Ocean climate
Mahyar Mohtadi,
Matthias Prange,
Delia W. Oppo,
Ricardo De Pol-Holz,
Ute Merkel
+ et al.
New sea surface temperature and oxygen isotope records, combined with climate modelling experiments, show that slowdowns of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during Heinrich stadials and the Younger Dryas stadial affected the tropical Indian Ocean hydroclimate through changes to the Hadley circulation.
Electrical conductivity during incipient melting in the oceanic low-velocity zone
David Sifré,
Emmanuel Gardés,
Malcolm Massuyeau,
Leila Hashim,
Saswata Hier-Majumder
+ et al.
Determination of the electrical conductivity of carbon-dioxide- and water-rich melts, which are typically produced at the onset of mantle melting, shows that incipient melts can trigger the high electrical conductivities found in oceanic regions of the asthenosphere.
See also
News & Views by Evans
Widespread decline of Congo rainforest greenness in the past decade
Liming Zhou,
Yuhong Tian,
Ranga B. Myneni,
Philippe Ciais,
Sassan Saatchi
+ et al.
The long-term drying trend in central African rainforests might help to explain satellite-detected large-scale vegetation browning in the Congolese forests.
See also
News & Views by Chambers & Roberts
Identification of genomic alterations in oesophageal squamous cell cancer
Yongmei Song,
Lin Li,
Yunwei Ou,
Zhibo Gao,
Enmin Li
+ et al.
Using whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing, this study identifies eight significantly mutated genes in oesophageal squamous cell cancer, including two genes, ADAM29 and FAM135B, not previously associated with this cancer type.
Cystathionine γ-lyase deficiency mediates neurodegeneration in Huntington’s disease
Bindu D. Paul,
Juan I. Sbodio,
Risheng Xu,
M. Scott Vandiver,
Jiyoung Y. Cha
+ et al.
Cystathionine γ-lyase, which is responsible for the production of cysteine, is decreased in the striatum and cortex of mouse models of Huntington’s disease and in patients with Huntington’s disease, and cysteine supplementation in diet and drinking water partly rescues the phenotype and the diminished longevity of the mouse model.
Nuclear reprogramming by interphase cytoplasm of two-cell mouse embryos
Eunju Kang,
Guangming Wu,
Hong Ma,
Ying Li,
Rebecca Tippner-Hedges
+ et al.
Reprogramming after somatic cell nuclear transfer had been thought to be dependent on the recipient cytoplasm being arrested at the metaphase stage, but here interphase two-cell mouse embryos are shown to support successful reprogramming and generation of embryonic stem cells or cloned mice.
Quantitative proteomics identifies NCOA4 as the cargo receptor mediating ferritinophagy
Joseph D. Mancias,
Xiaoxu Wang,
Steven P. Gygi,
J. Wade Harper &
Alec C. Kimmelman
Through a quantitative proteomics analysis, a cohort of proteins is identified that associate with autophagosomes, among them a new cargo receptor called NCOA4 that, in response to iron deprivation, targets ferritin to autophagosomes and thereby releases iron.
Structural basis for ubiquitin-mediated antiviral signal activation by RIG-I
Alys Peisley,
Bin Wu,
Hui Xu,
Zhijian J. Chen &
Sun Hur
RIG-I protein recognizes viral duplex RNA with a 5′-triphosphate group, activating innate immune responses; a crystal structure of its tetrameric CARD signalling domain reveals that non-covalently linked ubiquitin chains stabilize the tetramer in a ‘lock-washer’ structure that serves as a signalling platform for the recruitment and activation of MAVS.
Structure of the human P2Y12 receptor in complex with an antithrombotic drug
Kaihua Zhang,
Jin Zhang,
Zhan-Guo Gao,
Dandan Zhang,
Lan Zhu
+ et al.
The X-ray crystal structure of the human P2Y12 receptor, which regulates platelet activation and thrombus formation, is solved in complex with an antithrombotic drug, providing insights for the development of new drugs.
Agonist-bound structure of the human P2Y12 receptor
Jin Zhang,
Kaihua Zhang,
Zhan-Guo Gao,
Silvia Paoletta,
Dandan Zhang
+ et al.
An X-ray structure of human P2Y12 receptor, a clinical drug target for platelet aggregation inhibitors, is presented in complex with an agonist, providing insight into the δ-group of class A G-protein-coupled receptors.
