This Week in Science

Editor summaries of this week's papers.
Science 12 December 2008: 1605.
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Editorial:
Reduce Administrative Burden

Alan I. Leshner
Science 12 December 2008: 1609.
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Editors' Choice

Highlights of the recent literature.
Science 12 December 2008: 1610.
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Science Podcast

Science 12 December 2008: 1721.
Summary: The 12 December 2008 show includes compromised welfare of zoo elephants, reconciling financial models with human behavior, and more. Full Text »|   Transcript »|  

NEW PRODUCTS

Science 12 December 2008: 1721.
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News of the Week

NASA: Delays in Mars Mission Will Ripple Across Space Science

Andrew Lawler
Science 12 December 2008: 1618.
Summary: Faced with mounting technical glitches, last week NASA decided to delay its Mars Science Laboratory for at least 2 years, meaning the spacecraft will not get off the ground before fall 2011. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

OBAMA TRANSITION: A Fresh Start for Embryonic Stem Cells

Constance Holden
Science 12 December 2008: 1619.
Summary: U.S. researchers are eagerly anticipating the moment that President-elect Barack Obama takes office and sweeps away the Bush Administration's restrictions on federal funding for research with human embryonic stem cells. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PARTICLE PHYSICS: Sotto Voce, LHC Repair Plan Points to Weaknesses in Original Design

Adrian Cho
Science 12 December 2008: 1620-1621.
Summary: Officials at CERN, the European particle physics lab near Geneva, Switzerland, issued a four-page report last week tersely describing how they plan to get the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's biggest particle smasher, working again after its 19 September breakdown. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

BIOSECURITY: How Kansas Nabbed the New Bio- and Agro-Defense Lab

Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
Science 12 December 2008: 1620-1621.
Summary: Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security selected Kansas State University in Manhattan as its preferred site for a $450 million facility to replace the aging Plum Island Animal Disease Center off Long Island, New York. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Researchers Could Face More Scrutiny of Outside Income

Jocelyn Kaiser and Lila Guterman
Science 12 December 2008: 1622.
Summary: As controversy escalates about researchers who allegedly broke rules on reporting income from drug companies, U.S. National Institutes of Health officials outlined plans last week to tighten federal conflict-of-interest regulations for NIH grantees within the next 6 to 12 months. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

MALARIA: Vaccine Comes Another Step Closer

Martin Enserink
Science 12 December 2008: 1622-1623.
Summary: The most advanced candidate vaccine for malaria has cleared another major hurdle and is now ready for its last and biggest test: a phase III trial of 12,000 to 16,000 children at 11 locations in seven African countries. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

SCIENCE POLICY: Biosummit Seeks to Draw Obama's Attention to the Life Sciences

Eliot Marshall
Science 12 December 2008: 1623.
Summary: A group of scientists met last week in Washington, D.C., at a "Biosummit," part of a new campaign to focus public attention on the importance of the life sciences. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ScienceScope

Science 12 December 2008: 1621.
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Random Samples

Science 12 December 2008: 1615.
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Newsmakers

Science 12 December 2008: 1617.
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News Focus

ECONOMICS: Crazy Money

Chelsea Wald
Science 12 December 2008: 1624-1626.
Summary: Humans aren't rational, as the recent economic crisis shows. So why should financial theories assume that they are? Full Text »|   PDF »|   Podcast Interview »|  

OCEANOGRAPHY: FerryBoxes Begin to Make Waves

Claire Ainsworth
Science 12 December 2008: 1627-1629.
Summary: European researchers have enlisted a fleet of ferries to inexpensively gather valuable data about the region's waters. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

OCEANOGRAPHY: Logbooks Record Weather's History

Claire Ainsworth
Science 12 December 2008: 1629.
Summary: Researchers are using old maritime logbooks to reconstruct a record of the weather stretching back to the 17th century. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ECOLOGY: When Juniper and Woody Plants Invade, Water May Retreat

Michael Tennesen
Science 12 December 2008: 1630-1631.
Summary: Dense plants are taking over grasslands in many areas; researchers in the U.S. Southwest are studying how they tap into water supplies--and how to keep them in check. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Letters

 Testing the Limits of "Concrete" and "Generic"

Jean-Christophe Mourrat
Science 12 December 2008: 1632.
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 "Concrete" Examples a Fraction Too Abstract

Louis J. Cutrona Jr.
Science 12 December 2008: 1632.
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 Concrete Examples Must Jibe with Experience

Stephen K. Reed;, Jennifer A. Kaminski, Vladimir M. Sloutsky, and Andrew F. Heckler
Science 12 December 2008: 1632-1633.
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 Gene Regulation in Evolution: A History

John W. Grula
Science 12 December 2008: 1633.
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 Corrections and Clarifications

Science 12 December 2008: 1634.
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Books et al.

MEDICINE: Yes We Can! Choose Science in Autism

Catherine Lord
Science 12 December 2008: 1635-1636.
Summary: Presenting a strong case against claims that autism is caused by childhood vaccines, Offit also discusses why the antivaccine movement has attracted support. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

NEUROSCIENCE: The Emerging Nature of Nurture

Mriganka Sur
Science 12 December 2008: 1636.
Summary: Stiles draws on the findings of the past two decades to provide an inclusive and accessible account of the complexities and dynamism of brain development. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Books Received

Science 12 December 2008: 1636.
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Policy Forum

SCIENCE AND RELIGION: Bracing for Islamic Creationism

Salman Hameed
Science 12 December 2008: 1637-1638.
Summary: To avoid a vast rejection of evolution in the Muslim world, scientists can present the theory as the bedrock of biology and can stress its practical applications. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Perspectives

PHYSICS: Stringing Together a Solid State

Sean Hartnoll
Science 12 December 2008: 1639-1640.
Summary: Formulations of string theory may describe some complex electronic interactions in condensed matter systems. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

IMMUNOLOGY: Chaperone Puts the Brakes On

Veronika Lukacs-Kornek and Shannon J. Turley
Science 12 December 2008: 1640-1641.
Summary: A molecule controls both antigen processing and cell motility, ensuring that dendritic cells efficiently activate T cells to initiate protective immunity. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

EPIDEMIOLOGY: Why Can't We Test Our Way to Absolute Food Safety?

Shaun Kennedy
Science 12 December 2008: 1641-1643.
Summary: Efforts to ensure food safety must take into account long supply chains and unanticipated threats. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY: On Growth and Force

Bela Mulder
Science 12 December 2008: 1643-1644.
Summary: The physical stress on plant tissue during growth controls the precise organization of a major structural element in the plant cell. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

BIOCHEMISTRY: An Almost-Complete Movie

George Diallinas
Science 12 December 2008: 1644-1645.
Summary: Structural snapshots of transporter proteins reveal how they transport species across membranes. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

BIOPHYSICS: Clutch Dynamics

Yvonne Aratyn-Schaus and Margaret L. Gardel
Science 12 December 2008: 1646-1647.
Summary: A mechanical model describes how actin cytoskeletal dynamics and cell adhesion control mechanosensing and force generation. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

BIOCHEMISTRY: Pressing Levers or Pulling Strings?

Linda A. Amos
Science 12 December 2008: 1647-1648.
Summary: The unique stalk of the molecular motor protein dynein may serve as a smart tether rather than as a lever during motion along microtubules. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Brevia

Compromised Survivorship in Zoo Elephants

Ros Clubb, Marcus Rowcliffe, Phyllis Lee, Khyne U. Mar, Cynthia Moss, and Georgia J. Mason
Science 12 December 2008: 1649.
Data from over 4500 elephants show that wild elephants live for approximately twice as long as those kept in European zoos. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  Podcast Interview »|  

Research Articles

Developmental Patterning by Mechanical Signals in Arabidopsis

Olivier Hamant, Marcus G. Heisler, Henrik Jönsson, Pawel Krupinski, Magalie Uyttewaal, Plamen Bokov, Francis Corson, Patrik Sahlin, Arezki Boudaoud, Elliot M. Meyerowitz, Yves Couder, and Jan Traas
Science 12 December 2008: 1650-1655.
The growth pattern of plant meristem, the group of stem cells at the tip of a growing shoot, is controlled by a microtubule-based mechanical feedback loop. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Competitive Inhibitor Traps LeuT in an Open-to-Out Conformation

Satinder K. Singh, Chayne L. Piscitelli, Atsuko Yamashita, and Eric Gouaux
Science 12 December 2008: 1655-1661.
A bacterial protein similar to mammalian neurotransmitter transporters is blocked when a competitive inhibitor prevents the formation of the normal intermediate state. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Reports

Gold-Catalyzed Synthesis of Aromatic Azo Compounds from Anilines and Nitroaromatics

Abdessamad Grirrane, Avelino Corma, and Hermenegildo García
Science 12 December 2008: 1661-1664.
Gold nanoparticles can catalyze a direct, environmentally friendly route to industrially important azobenzene dye compounds from either aniline or nitrobenzene precursors. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Collective Reactivity of Molecular Chains Self-Assembled on a Surface

Peter Maksymovych, Dan C. Sorescu, Kenneth D. Jordan, and John T. Yates, Jr.
Science 12 December 2008: 1664-1667.
The paired sulfur bonds in dimethyldisulfide molecules, which assemble in long chains on gold surfaces, can be rearranged by injecting an electron into the end of the chain. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Mechanism of Threading a Polymer Through a Macrocyclic Ring

Alexander B. C. Deutman, Cyrille Monnereau, Johannes A. A. W. Elemans, Gianfranco Ercolani, Roeland J. M. Nolte, and Alan E. Rowan
Science 12 December 2008: 1668-1671.
A polymer threads through a large ring-shaped molecule faster when it is long enough to bind to the outside of the ring first, but not too long that it cannot easily loop into the hole. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Dynamic Marine Calcium Cycle During the Past 28 Million Years

Elizabeth M. Griffith, Adina Paytan, Ken Caldeira, Thomas D. Bullen, and Ellen Thomas
Science 12 December 2008: 1671-1674.
The isotopic composition of calcium in marine carbonates indicates that the calcium cycle has been dynamic over the past 28 million years and closely linked to climate. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Earthquake Supercycles Inferred from Sea-Level Changes Recorded in the Corals of West Sumatra

Kerry Sieh, Danny H. Natawidjaja, Aron J. Meltzner, Chuan-Chou Shen, Hai Cheng, Kuei-Shu Li, Bambang W. Suwargadi, John Galetzka, Belle Philibosian, and R. Lawrence Edwards
Science 12 December 2008: 1674-1678.
Uplift records from corals imply that the Sumatra plate boundary ruptured in the 1300s, 1500s, and in 1797 and 1833; a 2007 temblor may mark the initiation of a next series of quakes. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Shock Metamorphism of Bosumtwi Impact Crater Rocks, Shock Attenuation, and Uplift Formation

Ludovic Ferrière, Christian Koeberl, Boris A. Ivanov, and Wolf Uwe Reimold
Science 12 December 2008: 1678-1681.
Microscale deformation features in a drill core through an impact crater and a model of the impact history show that the central uplift in the crater was produced by brittle faults. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

The Spreading of Disorder

Kees Keizer, Siegwart Lindenberg, and Linda Steg
Science 12 December 2008: 1681-1685.
Published online 20 November 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1161405] (in Science Express Reports)
Upon observing signs of social disorder (such as littering or graffiti), individuals are more likely to disobey a variety of social rules, including prohibitions against theft. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Germ Cell-Intrinsic and -Extrinsic Factors Govern Meiotic Initiation in Mouse Embryos

Yanfeng Lin, Mark E. Gill, Jana Koubova, and David C. Page
Science 12 December 2008: 1685-1687.
Mouse germ cells begin meiosis for sperm or egg production only when they both are stimulated by the hormone retinoic acid and express a particular RNA-binding protein. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Traction Dynamics of Filopodia on Compliant Substrates

Clarence E. Chan and David J. Odde
Science 12 December 2008: 1687-1691.
A model that predicts that substrate/surface stiffness acts through a cellular motor-clutch mechanism to alter retrograde flow rates and traction is confirmed in chick neurons. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Structure and Functional Role of Dynein's Microtubule-Binding Domain

Andrew P. Carter, Joan E. Garbarino, Elizabeth M. Wilson-Kubalek, Wesley E. Shipley, Carol Cho, Ronald A. Milligan, Ronald D. Vale, and I. R. Gibbons
Science 12 December 2008: 1691-1695.
ATP hydrolysis by the molecular motor dynein transmits a structural change to its microtubule-binding domain, determining movement direction along the microtubule. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Genomic Loss of microRNA-101 Leads to Overexpression of Histone Methyltransferase EZH2 in Cancer

Sooryanarayana Varambally, Qi Cao, Ram-Shankar Mani, Sunita Shankar, Xiaosong Wang, Bushra Ateeq, Bharathi Laxman, Xuhong Cao, Xiaojun Jing, Kalpana Ramnarayanan, J. Chad Brenner, Jindan Yu, Jung H. Kim, Bo Han, Patrick Tan, Chandan Kumar-Sinha, Robert J. Lonigro, Nallasivam Palanisamy, Christopher A. Maher, and Arul M. Chinnaiyan
Science 12 December 2008: 1695-1699.
Published online 13 November 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1165395] (in Science Express Reports)
In some human prostate cancers, a genomic deletion eliminates a key regulatory microRNA, which results in disruption of gene-silencing mechanisms. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Modafinil Shifts Human Locus Coeruleus to Low-Tonic, High-Phasic Activity During Functional MRI

Michael J. Minzenberg, Andrew J. Watrous, Jong H. Yoon, Stefan Ursu, and Cameron S. Carter
Science 12 December 2008: 1700-1702.
Brain images of humans treated with a cognitive enhancing drug show increased task-oriented activity in a brainstem nucleus and confirm that this region controls cognition. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Null Mutation in Human APOC3 Confers a Favorable Plasma Lipid Profile and Apparent Cardioprotection

Toni I. Pollin, Coleen M. Damcott, Haiqing Shen, Sandra H. Ott, John Shelton, Richard B. Horenstein, Wendy Post, John C. McLenithan, Lawrence F. Bielak, Patricia A. Peyser, Braxton D. Mitchell, Michael Miller, Jeffrey R. O'Connell, and Alan R. Shuldiner
Science 12 December 2008: 1702-1705.
A mutation resulting in a lifelong decrease in the expression of a protein that inhibits triglyceride hydrolysis may protect against cardiovascular disease. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Regulation of Dendritic Cell Migration by CD74, the MHC Class II-Associated Invariant Chain

Gabrielle Faure-André, Pablo Vargas, Maria-Isabel Yuseff, Mélina Heuzé, Jheimmy Diaz, Danielle Lankar, Veronica Steri, Jeremy Manry, Stéphanie Hugues, Fulvia Vascotto, Jérôme Boulanger, Graça Raposo, Maria-Rosa Bono, Mario Rosemblatt, Matthieu Piel, and Ana-Maria Lennon-Duménil
Science 12 December 2008: 1705-1710.
By binding to a myosin, an immune-specific protein known to control antigen processing also regulates the migration of dendritic cells, possibly coordinating the two functions. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Role for the ESCRT System in Cell Division in Archaea

Rachel Y. Samson, Takayuki Obita, Stefan M. Freund, Roger L. Williams, and Stephen D. Bell
Science 12 December 2008: 1710-1713.
Published online 13 November 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1165322] (in Science Express Reports)
A class of proteins required for membrane trafficking and cytokinesis in eukaryotes is also unexpectedly required in some Archaea for cell division. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

De Novo Formation of a Subnuclear Body

Trish E. Kaiser, Robert V. Intine, and Miroslav Dundr
Science 12 December 2008: 1713-1717.
Published online 23 October 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1165216] (in Science Express Reports)
The Cajal body, a nuclear structure for small ribonucleoprotein metabolism, can self-assemble from any one of its components immobilized on a substrate. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

The Air Noncoding RNA Epigenetically Silences Transcription by Targeting G9a to Chromatin

Takashi Nagano, Jennifer A. Mitchell, Lionel A. Sanz, Florian M. Pauler, Anne C. Ferguson-Smith, Robert Feil, and Peter Fraser
Science 12 December 2008: 1717-1720.
Published online 6 November 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1163802] (in Science Express Reports)
Air, a large noncoding RNA, interacts with chromatin at a particular promoter, recruiting a histone methyltransferase to silence gene expression in an allele-specific manner. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Technical Comments

Comment on "An Association Between the Kinship and Fertility of Human Couples"

Rodrigo Labouriau and António Amorim
Science 12 December 2008: 1634.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Response to Comments on "An Association Between the Kinship and Fertility of Human Couples"

Agnar Helgason, Snæbjörn Pálsson, Daníel F. Guðbjartsson, Þórður Kristjánsson, and Kári Stefánsson
Science 12 December 2008: 1634.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|