Nature contents: 31 May 2012

Can't view this email? Click here to view in your browser.     Volume 485 Number 7400      nature •Visit Nature homepage •Subscribe to Nature •View Table of Contents The science that matters. Every week.                       Science communication is about to change. New from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society, & the Wellcome Trust: eLife -- a journal for key advances in life science & biomedicine. Groundbreaking science, selected by experts, published without delay, & open for greater influence at www.elifesciences.org             Jump to the content that matters to you View Table of Contents ▶ ▼ News & Comment   ▼ Biological Sciences   ▼ Chemical Sciences   ▼ Physical Sciences   ▼ Earth & Environmental Sciences   ▼ Careers & Jobs       This week's highlights     Specials - Outlook: Breast cancer     Each year, 1.3 million women — and some 13,000 men — are diagnosed with breast cancer. The past few decades have seen huge advances in treatment, but about one-quarter of those diagnosed will die from the disease. Complicating matters, breast cancers are remarkably diverse, and tumour cells seem to hide in 'cured' individuals. The difficult challenges are only just starting. ▼ more       Biological Sciences More Biological sciences ▼   In vivo reprogramming of murine cardiac fibroblasts into induced cardiomyocytes   A cocktail of transcription factors can directly reprogram cardiac fibroblasts to cardiomyocyte-like cells — the ones that drive the heartbeat — in vitro. That approach is now demonstrated in vivo, using a retrovirus to deliver the transcription factors directly to the hearts of adult mice. Heart function improved, and the area of damaged tissue following coronary ligation was reduced. The response was further enhanced by treatment with the multifunctional peptide thymosin.       Chemical Sciences More Chemical sciences ▼   Complex shapes self-assembled from single-stranded DNA tiles   DNA origami, in which a long DNA strand is folded into a complex shape, is proving a great success in producing useful nanomolecules. Modular strategies could be simpler and even more versatile if they can be persuaded to produce complex shapes from a large number of uniquely addressable components. This new technique does just that, using short synthetic DNA strands as tile-like 'pixels' to create more than 100 distinct and complex two-dimensional shapes.                   The Gel Doc EZ imager from Bio-Rad delivers high-quality gel images and analysis with ease and accuracy. Simply slide in the sample tray, press a single button, and you’ll get publication-ready images in just seconds. Its compact size also frees up bench space. Click here to learn more.                 Biological Sciences More Biological sciences ▼   The tomato genome sequence provides insights into fleshy fruit evolution   The genome sequence of the tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, a widely used model for the study of fruit biology and disease resistance and a feature of cuisines worldwide, has now been published. Comparison with a draft sequence for its closest wild relative, the South American currant tomato, reveals the signs of early domestication, the export of a few genotypes to Europe in the sixteenth century and centuries of intensive breeding.       Podcast & Video     In this week's podcast: painting a molecular canvas, why birds look like dinosaurs, and saving the Sumatran rhino.     In this week's video: freelance journalist Henry Nichols travels to Borneo to meet 'Stumpy', the three-legged Sumatran rhino. Conservationists are going to extreme lengths to conserve this highly endangered species, but some question whether it's worthwhile.         News & Comment Read daily news coverage▶ ▲top             THIS WEEK           Editorials                   You say tomato ▶     Genome studies of food crops offer a powerful way for plant breeders to create products with the most advantageous attributes.             A war not yet won ▶     The eradication of polio is within reach, but it is too early for self-congratulation.             Split decision ▶     The two-location solution for siting the Square Kilometre Array should not surprise us.             World View                   Let's mine asteroids — for science and profit ▶     The commercial dream of trawling space for valuable minerals could bring enormous benefits to a wide range of sciences, argues Martin Elvis.             Seven Days                   Seven days: 25–31 May 2012 ▶     The week in science: Private spacecraft docks with International Space Station; changes to Brazil's deforestation laws; and a US petition urges for open access to research.           NEWS IN FOCUS           Winners all round in telescope bid ▶     Based in both Australia and South Africa, the Square Kilometre Array will face technical and financial challenges.             Fracking boom spurs environmental audit ▶     As hydraulic fracturing unlocks new gas reserves, researchers struggle to understand its health implications.             US beef tests cook up a storm ▶     Critics question benefits of broader E. coli screening.             Reform falters after Europe's E. coli scare ▶     Political debate leaves German surveillance law in limbo.             Anarchists attack science ▶     Armed extremists are targeting nuclear and nanotechnology workers.             Polio's last stand ▶     As the global eradication effort ramps up, funding shortfalls threaten the programme's gains in Africa and Asia.             Scientists: your number is up ▶     ORCID scheme will give researchers unique identifiers to improve tracking of publications.             Features                   Endangered species: Sex and the single rhinoceros ▶     Conservationists are taking heroic measures to restore the fertility of a three-footed Sumatran rhino. But some ask whether this is the right way to save an endangered species.             Microglia: The constant gardeners ▶     Once thought to be passive sentinels, microglia now seem to be crucial for pruning back neurons during development.           COMMENT           Resources: Stop squandering helium ▶     Establish a global agency to build a sustainable market for this precious commodity, say William J. Nuttall, Richard H. Clarke and Bartek A. Glowacki.             HIV prevention: Bring safe sex to China ▶     China's discomfort over discussing sex, and especially homosexuality, is a major problem when it comes to HIV, says a consortium of researchers in China.             Books and Arts                   In retrospect: Silent Spring ▶     On its 50th anniversary, an exposé of pesticide overuse still stands as a beacon of reason, finds Rob Dunn.             Books in brief ▶             Computer science: The great between ▶     Nigel Shadbolt weighs up a timely look at a key digital challenge — interoperability.             Military science: Empires of reason ▶     Alison Abbott delves into the legacy of a remarkable Italian scientist–spy and avid collector.             Correspondence                   Epidemiology: Reduce uncertainty in UK badger culling Christl A. Donnelly & Rosie Woodroffe | Biologics: Personalized drugs should cut care costs Nafees N. Malik | Authorship: Include all institutes in publishing index Stephen Levinson | Politics: Food safety body is bound to draw fire Kim Hendrickx & Bart Penders           Correction                   Correction ▶                         2013 Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise The Vilcek Foundation is seeking young, foreign-born biomedical scientists with drive, talent, and ingenuity to apply for the $35,000 Creative Promise Prizes. Three winners will be selected, based on records of exceptional early The Vilcek Foundation is seeking young, foreign-born biomedical scientists to apply for the $35,000 Creative Promise Prizes. Three winners will be selected. Applicants must be 38 years old or younger, have a doctoral degree, and hold a position as principal investigators in an academic or research institution. More at www.vilcek.org.               Biological Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Latest Online                   Cis-regulatory control of corticospinal system development and evolution ▶     Sungbo Shim, Kenneth Y. Kwan, Mingfeng Li, Veronique Lefebvre & Nenad Šestan     SOX transcription factors converge on a cortex-specific enhancer to regulate the dynamic, cell-type-specific expression of Fezf2, a gene necessary for the formation of corticospinal system.             Dimensionality of consumer search space drives trophic interaction strengths ▶     Samraat Pawar, Anthony I. Dell & Van M. Savage     Consumption rates vary substantially between consumers searching in three dimensions (for example, arboreal and pelagic zones), with consumption rates scaling superlinearly with consumer body mass, and those searching in two dimensions (for example, terrestrial and benthic zones), with consumption rates scaling sublinearly with consumer body mass.             Astrocyte glypicans 4 and 6 promote formation of excitatory synapses via GluA1 AMPA receptors ▶     Nicola J. Allen, Mariko L. Bennett, Lynette C. Foo, Gordon X. Wang, Chandrani Chakraborty et al.     Glypican 4 and glypican 6 are identified as astrocyte-secreted signals that induce the formation of functional, rather than structural, synapses through the recruitment to the neuron surface of the GluA1 subunits of the AMPA glutamate receptor.             Generalized Lévy walks and the role of chemokines in migration of effector CD8+ T cells ▶     Tajie H. Harris, Edward J. Banigan, David A. Christian, Christoph Konradt, Elia D. Tait Wojno et al.     T cells in the brains of Toxoplasma-infected mice are shown to move by Lévy-like walks.             Birds have paedomorphic dinosaur skulls ▶     Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar, Jesús Marugán-Lobón, Fernando Racimo, Gabe S. Bever, Timothy B. Rowe et al.     The bird skull arose from the nonavian dinosaur skull by several episodes of paedomorphosis, in which descendants resemble the juveniles of their ancestors, according to a study of shape change during dinosaur ontogeny and phylogeny.             Articles and Letters                   In vivo reprogramming of murine cardiac fibroblasts into induced cardiomyocytes ▶     Li Qian, Yu Huang, C. Ian Spencer, Amy Foley, Vasanth Vedantham et al.     Previous work has shown that a combination of three transcription factors can directly reprogram cardiac fibroblasts into cardiomyocyte-like cell in vitro; now, the same authors demonstrate in vivo reprogramming of cardiac fibroblasts into induced cardiomyocytes.             Heart repair by reprogramming non-myocytes with cardiac transcription factors ▶     Kunhua Song, Young-Jae Nam, Xiang Luo, Xiaoxia Qi, Wei Tan et al.     A combination of four transcription factors, GATA4, HAND2, MEF2C and TBX5, can reprogram fibroblasts into cardiac-like myocytes in vitro and in vivo; expression of these factors ameliorated cardiac function in mice that had suffered myocardial infarction.             The let-7–Imp axis regulates ageing of the Drosophila testis stem-cell niche ▶     Hila Toledano, Cecilia D’Alterio, Benjamin Czech, Erel Levine & D. Leanne Jones     In the Drosophila testis, IGF-II messenger RNA binding protein (Imp) is shown to promote stem-cell niche maintenance by stabilizing unpaired (upd) RNA; Imp levels decrease in the hub cells of older males, owing to regulation by the microRNA let-7.             Accelerated speciation in colour-polymorphic birds ▶     Andrew F. Hugall & Devi Stuart-Fox     Molecular phylogenies demonstrate a link between colour polymorphism and accelerated speciation in bird families.             The tomato genome sequence provides insights into fleshy fruit evolution ▶     The Tomato Genome Consortium     This paper reports the genome sequence of domesticated tomato, a major crop plant, and a draft sequence for its closest wild relative; comparative genomics reveal very little divergence between the two genomes but some important differences with the potato genome, another important food crop in the genus Solanum.             Genetic recombination is directed away from functional genomic elements in mice ▶     Kevin Brick, Fatima Smagulova, Pavel Khil, R. Daniel Camerini-Otero & Galina V. Petukhova     Comparison of Prdm9−/− and wild-type mice reveals a role for the PRDM9 protein in directing the recombination machinery away from important genomic regions.             Recurrent network activity drives striatal synaptogenesis ▶     Yevgenia Kozorovitskiy, Arpiar Saunders, Caroline A. Johnson, Bradford B. Lowell & Bernardo L. Sabatini     Neurotransmitter release and activity are modulated in the striatum of mice to demonstrate that the balance of activity within the two antagonistic, inhibitory pathways co-mingled in this nucleus regulates excitatory innervation of the basal ganglia during development.             Prion-like behaviour and tau-dependent cytotoxicity of pyroglutamylated amyloid-β ▶     Justin M. Nussbaum, Stephan Schilling, Holger Cynis, Antonia Silva, Eric Swanson et al.     It is shown that the formation of amyloid-β oligomers, one of the histopathological signatures of Alzheimer’s disease, can be triggered by small quantities of a specifically truncated and post-translationally modified version of amyloid-β.             Inhibitory receptors bind ANGPTLs and support blood stem cells and leukaemia development ▶     Junke Zheng, Masato Umikawa, Changhao Cui, Jiyuan Li, Xiaoli Chen et al.     The binding of angiopoietin-like proteins to immune-inhibitory receptors maintains ‘stemness’ of haematopoietic stem cells and supports leukaemia development.             AMPK regulates NADPH homeostasis to promote tumour cell survival during energy stress ▶     Sang-Min Jeon, Navdeep S. Chandel & Nissim Hay     A mechanism is suggested that helps tumour cells survive energy stress conditions during early stages of tumorigenesis.             News & Views                   Regenerative medicine: Reprogramming the injured heart ▶     Nathan J. Palpant & Charles E. Murry             Evolutionary anthropology: Homo 'incendius' ▶     Richard G. Roberts & Michael I. Bird             Immunology: Actin' dangerously ▶     Gordon D. Brown             Cancer metabolism: Tumour friend or foe ▶     Robert U. Svensson & Reuben J. Shaw             Corrigendum                   Corrigendum: Fetal load and the evolution of lumbar lordosis in bipedal hominins ▶     Katherine K. Whitcome, Liza J. Shapiro & Daniel E. Lieberman             Addendum                   Addendum: Verbal and non-verbal intelligence changes in the teenage brain ▶     Sue Ramsden, Fiona M. Richardson, Goulven Josse, Michael S. C. Thomas, Caroline Ellis et al.             Research Highlights                   Phylogenetics: Arachnids crossed the Pacific | Cancer: Switching p53 back on | Cancer detection: Sequencing spots tumour cells | Influenza: Towards a single flu vaccine | Palaeontology: Dating with rare earth elements | Immunology: Partners for the sunshine vitamin | Molecular biology: Cancer gene shifts chromatin         NEWS & COMMENT           You say tomato | A war not yet won | Fracking boom spurs environmental audit | US beef tests cook up a storm | Reform falters after Europe's E. coli scare | Anarchists attack science | Polio's last stand | Endangered species: Sex and the single rhinoceros | Microglia: The constant gardeners | HIV prevention: Bring safe sex to China | In retrospect: Silent Spring           CAREERS           Biotechnology investment: Gains and losses | Turning point: Mayim Bialik             More Biological Sciences ▶                         Differentiation of Lethal and Non-Lethal Prostate Cancer The Asian Journal of Andrology is proud to present a special issue and web focus on the Differentiation of Lethal and Non-Lethal Prostate Cancer which outline a diverse and comprehensive series of potential differentiation factors. Access the Special Issue and Web Focus today!               Chemical Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Articles and Letters                   Complex shapes self-assembled from single-stranded DNA tiles ▶     Bryan Wei, Mingjie Dai & Peng Yin     Complex, self-assembling, two-dimensional nanostructures can be built of single-stranded DNA tiles by a method that allows individual control of more than one thousand distinct components.             Prion-like behaviour and tau-dependent cytotoxicity of pyroglutamylated amyloid-β ▶     Justin M. Nussbaum, Stephan Schilling, Holger Cynis, Antonia Silva, Eric Swanson et al.     It is shown that the formation of amyloid-β oligomers, one of the histopathological signatures of Alzheimer’s disease, can be triggered by small quantities of a specifically truncated and post-translationally modified version of amyloid-β.             News & Views                   Nanotechnology: The importance of being modular ▶     Paul W. K. Rothemund & Ebbe Sloth Andersen             Research Highlights                   Chemical sensing: A nose for explosives           More Chemical Sciences ▶               Physical Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Latest Online                   Astrophysics: Young dwarfs date an old halo ▶     Timothy C. Beers             The age of the Milky Way inner halo ▶     Jason S. Kalirai     Using observations of four nearby white dwarf stars in the Milky Way halo, the age of local-field halo stars is measured to be nearly around 11 billion years.             Generalized Lévy walks and the role of chemokines in migration of effector CD8+ T cells ▶     Tajie H. Harris, Edward J. Banigan, David A. Christian, Christoph Konradt, Elia D. Tait Wojno et al.     T cells in the brains of Toxoplasma-infected mice are shown to move by Lévy-like walks.             Articles and Letters                   A spectrograph for exoplanet observations calibrated at the centimetre-per-second level ▶     Tobias Wilken, Gaspare Lo Curto, Rafael A. Probst, Tilo Steinmetz, Antonio Manescau et al.     Calibration of an astronomical spectrograph using a laser frequency comb yields a short-term Doppler shift repeatability of 2.5 cm s−1, which is sufficient to calculate the orbit of an extrasolar planet.             Metastability and coherence of repulsive polarons in a strongly interacting Fermi mixture ▶     C. Kohstall, M. Zaccanti, M. Jag, A. Trenkwalder, P. Massignan et al.     Radio-frequency spectroscopy is used to identify a long-lived, metastable quasiparticle in a lithium–potassium Fermi mixture with strongly repulsive interactions.             Attractive and repulsive Fermi polarons in two dimensions ▶     Marco Koschorreck, Daniel Pertot, Enrico Vogt, Bernd Fröhlich, Michael Feld et al.     Investigations of a two-dimensional spin-imbalanced Fermi gas reveal the existence of the Fermi polaron for attractive and repulsive interactions, and the transition from the attractive polaron to a molecule.             Genetic recombination is directed away from functional genomic elements in mice ▶     Kevin Brick, Fatima Smagulova, Pavel Khil, R. Daniel Camerini-Otero & Galina V. Petukhova     Comparison of Prdm9−/− and wild-type mice reveals a role for the PRDM9 protein in directing the recombination machinery away from important genomic regions.             News & Views                   Condensed-matter physics: Repulsive polarons found ▶     Peter Hannaford             Astrophysics: Young dwarfs date an old halo ▶     Timothy C. Beers           NEWS & COMMENT           Split decision | Let's mine asteroids — for science and profit | Winners all round in telescope bid | Anarchists attack science | Scientists: your number is up | Computer science: The great between             More Physical Sciences ▶               Earth & Environmental Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Latest Online                   Ultraviolet-radiation-induced methane emissions from meteorites and the Martian atmosphere ▶     Frank Keppler, Ivan Vigano, Andy McLeod, Ulrich Ott, Marion Früchtl et al.     Exposure of the Murchison meteorite to ultraviolet radiation is found to produce methane, suggesting a possible explanation for a substantial fraction of recently estimated Martian atmospheric methane.             Articles and Letters                   Hafnium isotope evidence for a transition in the dynamics of continental growth 3.2 Gyr ago ▶     T. Næraa, A. Scherstén, M. T. Rosing, A. I. S. Kemp, J. E. Hoffmann et al.     Hafnium isotope ratios obtained from zircons in southern West Greenland suggest that Earth’s ancient crustal growth changed around 3.2 Gyr ago to a modern geodynamic regime involving juvenile crust generation by plate tectonic processes.             Research Highlights                   Glaciology: Lost photos reveal glacier shifts | Geology: Explosions created big sandpit         NEWS & COMMENT           Let's mine asteroids — for science and profit | Fracking boom spurs environmental audit | Resources: Stop squandering helium | In retrospect: Silent Spring             More Earth & Environmental Sciences ▶               Special - Nature Outlook: Breast cancerFree Access ▲top               Breast cancer ▶     Michelle Grayson              The hard facts ▶     For women worldwide, breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed and has the highest death toll. With improvements in screening and treatments over the past 50 years, more women are living longer, but the numbers reveal some tough challenges. By Amy Maxmen.              Molecular oncology: The positive in the negative ▶     Researchers are delving into triple-negative breast cancer, uncovering potential drug targets for this difficult-to-treat disease.              Pregnancy: Delivery from breast cancer ▶     Growing evidence shows that pregnant patients can beat breast cancer without endangering the unborn child.              Metastasis: The rude awakening ▶     If detected early, most cases of breast cancer seem to be curable. But the tumour's deadly offspring could be sleeping in the body.              Perspective: The right trials ▶     The system for clinical trials must be redesigned if there is to be a decline in breast cancer metastasis, argues Patricia S. Steeg.              Risk analysis: A dense issue ▶     Researchers are turning to breast density to help predict cancer risk.              Exercise: Powering up ▶     Physical activity has numerous proven benefits, and its long-contested ability to keep cancer at bay is now being put to the test.              Environment and genetics: Making sense of the noise ▶     The search for the genetic determinants of breast cancer risk is focusing on ever smaller effects, requiring larger groups of subjects.              Perspective: Not just for women ▶     Specific research and treatment of breast cancer in men has been neglected and deserves greater attention, says Valerie Speirs.          Sponsors                     Nature Outlook: Diabetes 5% of the world's population are afflicted by either type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disorder, or type 2 diabetes, largely linked to lifestyle. Nature Outlook: Diabetes examines the latest research into the causes, therapy, prevention and impact of these devastating diseases. Access the Outlook free online for six months. Produced with support from: Eli Lilly and Company               Careers & Jobs ▲top               Biotechnology investment: Gains and losses ▶     Connecticut's investment initiatives are boosting research prospects, despite the region's languishing pharmaceutical sector.                   Turning point: Mayim Bialik ▶     Actress makes the shift from television to neuroscience and then back again.                   Careers related news & comment                   Split decision | Let's mine asteroids — for science and profit | Winners all round in telescope bid | Scientists: your number is up | Computer science: The great between             naturejobs.com Science jobs of the week       International PhD Programme on the "Dynamics of Gene Regulation, Epigenetics and DNA Damage Response"     Institute of Molecular Biology            Associate Research Scientist     Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center - Columbia University Medical Center            Research Assistant     University of Bristol            Professor Catalysis for Sustainable and Green Chemistry (1,0 fte)     Stratingh Institute, University of Groningen          No matter what your career stage, student, postdoc or senior scientist, you will find articles on naturejobs.com to help guide you in your science career. Keep up-to-date with the latest sector trends, vote in our reader poll and sign-up to receive the monthly Naturejobs newsletter.           • Nature events featured events           natureevents featured events         Genome Engineering: Research Applications     02.-05.09.12 Lucca, Italy         Nature events is the premier resource for scientists looking for the latest scientific conferences, courses, meetings and symposia. Featured across Nature Publishing Group journals and centrally at natureevents.com it is an essential reference guide to scientific events worldwide.               Futures                   On the edge ▶     Monya Baker                 Your email address is in the Nature mailing list. You have been sent this Table of Contents Alert because you have opted in to receive it. 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