Gene Regulation

Freedom of Expression

Guy Riddihough, Beverly A. Purnell, and John Travis
Science 28 March 2008: 1781.
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Video: Gene Regulation

Science 28 March 2008: 1781.
A video introduction focusing on RNA's role in gene regulation and the evolution of life. Full Text »|  

News

MicroRNAs Make Big Impression in Disease After Disease

Jennifer Couzin
Science 28 March 2008: 1782-1784.
Hunting for new ways to diagnose and treat common diseases, biologists and companies are racing to decipher the promise of these RNAs. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Perspectives

Gene Regulation by Transcription Factors and MicroRNAs

Oliver Hobert
Science 28 March 2008: 1785-1786.
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The Eukaryotic Genome as an RNA Machine

Paulo P. Amaral, Marcel E. Dinger, Tim R. Mercer, and John S. Mattick
Science 28 March 2008: 1787-1789.
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Multilevel Regulation of Gene Expression by MicroRNAs

Eugene V. Makeyev and Tom Maniatis
Science 28 March 2008: 1789-1790.
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Transcription Regulation Through Promoter-Proximal Pausing of RNA Polymerase II

Leighton J. Core and John T. Lis
Science 28 March 2008: 1791-1792.
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Gene Regulation in the Third Dimension

Job Dekker
Science 28 March 2008: 1793-1794.
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Complex Riboswitches

Ronald R. Breaker
Science 28 March 2008: 1795-1797.
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Evolution of Eukaryotic Transcription Circuits

Brian B. Tuch, Hao Li, and Alexander D. Johnson
Science 28 March 2008: 1797-1799.
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This Week in Science

Editor summaries of this week's papers.
Science 28 March 2008: 1729.
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Editorial:
Shortcuts to Medical Progress?

Bruce Alberts
Science 28 March 2008: 1733.
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Editors' Choice

Highlights of the recent literature.
Science 28 March 2008: 1735.
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Science Podcast

Science 28 March 2008: 1858.
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NEW PRODUCTS

Science 28 March 2008: 1856.
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News of the Week

GLOBAL CHANGE: Roads, Ports, Rails Aren't Ready for Changing Climate, Says Report

Eli Kintisch
Science 28 March 2008: 1744-1745.
A federal study released this month documents the significant impact that climate change is expected to have on the U.S. transportation system, offering "a pretty damning tale of what could happen." Full Text »|   PDF »|  

CLIMATE CHANGE: Study Fingers Soot as a Major Player in Global Warming

Robert F. Service
Science 28 March 2008: 1745.
According to a new analysis reported online this week in Nature Geoscience, climate scientists may have seriously underestimated the role that tiny particles of black carbon, or soot, play in global warming. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY: Smart Birds Lend a Beak for Food

Constance Holden
Science 28 March 2008: 1746.
Scientists report this week that rooks, like chimpanzees, can cooperate in food-getting tasks. The insight may help explain how cooperation evolved so spectacularly in humans. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

CLINICAL RESEARCH: NIH Reports Breach of Patient Records

Jocelyn Kaiser
Science 28 March 2008: 1746.
The theft last month of a laptop with patient data from a clinical trial under way at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, is fueling broader concerns about privacy. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

INFECTIOUS DISEASE: Elusive Pathogen Cornered at Last

Elsa Youngsteadt
Science 28 March 2008: 1747.
Researchers have discovered an environmental hiding place for the bacteria that cause a devastating disease known as Buruli ulcer. The accomplishment marks a major milestone in efforts to understand and control one of the world's most neglected tropical diseases. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

CHEN ZHU INTERVIEW: China's Modern Medical Minister

Richard Stone
Science 28 March 2008: 1748-1749.
A reshuffle this month put China’s minister of health, Chen Zhu, in charge of the State Food and Drug Administration. Science interviewed him about the tension between Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, a plan to strengthen medical research, and the more open research atmosphere in China since the SARS outbreak in 2003. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ACADEMIC RESEARCH: Saudi Start-Up Hopes Grants Will Buy Time

Jeffrey Mervis
Science 28 March 2008: 1748-1749.
An unusual graduate university rising in the Saudi Arabian desert is funding the research of top scientists from around the world in hopes that they will share their expertise and contacts to help the school launch its own research programs. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ScienceScope

Science 28 March 2008: 1747.
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Random Samples

Science 28 March 2008: 1741.
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Newsmakers

Science 28 March 2008: 1743.
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News Focus

SCIENCE AND COMMERCE: Science by the Masses

John Travis
Science 28 March 2008: 1750-1752.
By offering prizes on behalf of clients seeking scientific and engineering help, an Internet company called InnoCentive has gathered a virtual work force of 135,000 problem-solvers from around the world. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ENERGY: Weighing the Climate Risks of an Untapped Fossil Fuel

John Bohannon
Science 28 March 2008: 1753.
As the energy industry hungrily eyes methane hydrates, scientists ponder the fuel’s impact on climate. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

GENETIC RISK: With New Disease Genes, a Bounty of Questions

Jennifer Couzin
Science 28 March 2008: 1754-1755.
New techniques, including genome-wide associations, are identifying new disease risk factors; researchers are uncertain what they mean--and what to advise patients. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

LUNAR AND PLANETARY SCIENCE CONFERENCE: Cooking Up the Solar System From the Right Ingredients

Richard A. Kerr
Science 28 March 2008: 1756.
At the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, cosmochemists reported measurements of the oxygen isotopic composition of the sun that indicate that isotopically as well as physically, Earth is not at the center of things. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

LUNAR AND PLANETARY SCIENCE CONFERENCE: New Piece of the Solar System Puzzle Fits In

Richard A. Kerr
Science 28 March 2008: 1756-1757.
At a special session at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, researchers finally identified two broken pieces of a meteorite that had defied classification. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

LUNAR AND PLANETARY SCIENCE CONFERENCE: Snapshots From the Meeting

Richard A. Kerr
Science 28 March 2008: 1757.
Snapshots from the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference include remnant martian ice and a crater that shouldn’t exist. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

LUNAR AND PLANETARY SCIENCE CONFERENCE: What Was a 'Wet and Warm' Early Mars Really Like?

Richard A. Kerr
Science 28 March 2008: 1757.
A workshop focused on the first period of martian geologic history, held prior to the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, came to few conclusions about Mars’s transition from warm and wet to cold and dry. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Letters

This Week's Letters

Science 28 March 2008: 1759.
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 The Last Inventor of the Telephone

Jürgen Schmidhuber
Science 28 March 2008: 1759.
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 Thinking Outside the Reef

Eric L. Peterson, Maria Beger, and Zoe T. Richards
Science 28 March 2008: 1759.
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 Putting Ant-Acacia Mutualisms to the Fire

Roland Cochard, Donat Agosti;, Todd M. Palmer, Maureen L. Stanton, Truman P. Young, Jacob R. Goheen, Robert M. Pringle, and Richard Karban
Science 28 March 2008: 1759-1761.
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Books et al.

SCIENCE AND THE ARTS: Another Approach to Consilience

Jay Labinger
Science 28 March 2008: 1763.
Many who dream of unifying scientific and humanistic thinking seem to hold a one-sided view of the resulting whole: that the study of topics in the arts and humanities should be informed by science. Lehrer and Edwards offer a range of examples that suggest the benefits from working in the other direction. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

HISTORY OF SCIENCE: Explaining the Cosmos to the People

Philip J. Pauly
Science 28 March 2008: 1764.
The author provides a scholarly, detailed consideration of the bloom of books by writers and journalists who presented science to the British public through the second half of the 19th century. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Books Received

Science 28 March 2008: 1764.
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Policy Forum

PLANETARY SCIENCE: The Planet Debate Continues

Mark V. Sykes
Science 28 March 2008: 1765.
The IAU decisions a year ago to define "planet" narrowly and to demote Pluto have not been universally accepted. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Perspectives

MATERIALS SCIENCE: Multitasking in Tissues and Materials

Phillip B. Messersmith
Science 28 March 2008: 1767-1768.
Insights into the role played by a modified amino acid residue in structural biological tissues are helping to develop biomimetic materials. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PHYSICS: A Milestone in Time Keeping

Daniel Kleppner
Science 28 March 2008: 1768-1769.
Researchers have made atomic clocks so precise that effects of general relativity are on the verge of complicating the concept of keeping time. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ECONOMICS: When a Commodity Is Not Exactly a Commodity

Nancy Folbre
Science 28 March 2008: 1769-1770.
Economic transactions for services such as health and elder care are complicated by personal interactions and emotional connections. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE: Recording Earth's Vital Signs

Ralph F. Keeling
Science 28 March 2008: 1771-1772.
Fifty years ago, continuous measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide were begun at Mauna Loa, Hawaii. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

BIOCHEMISTRY: A Postgenomic Visual Icon

John N. Weinstein
Science 28 March 2008: 1772-1773.
A decade of experience in visualizing large-scale genotypic and phenotypic data as heat maps has illuminated the strengths and limitations of the approach. Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Association Affairs

AAAS News and Notes

Science 28 March 2008: 1775.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Review

Doped Nanocrystals

David J. Norris, Alexander L. Efros, and Steven C. Erwin
Science 28 March 2008: 1776-1779.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Brevia

Dynamics of Saturn's South Polar Vortex

Ulyana A. Dyudina, Andrew P. Ingersoll, Shawn P. Ewald, Ashwin R. Vasavada, Robert A. West, Anthony D. Del Genio, John M. Barbara, Carolyn C. Porco, Richard K. Achterberg, F. Michael Flasar, Amy A. Simon-Miller, and Leigh N. Fletcher
Science 28 March 2008: 1801.
Observations from Cassini show that the cloud vortex at Saturn’s south pole shares some features with hurricanes (such as an eye wall), but forms by a different mechanism. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Reports

Magnetar-Like Emission from the Young Pulsar in Kes 75

F. P. Gavriil, M. E. Gonzalez, E. V. Gotthelf, V. M. Kaspi, M. A. Livingstone, and P. M. Woods
Science 28 March 2008: 1802-1805.
Published online 21 February 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1153465] (in Science Express Reports)
A pulsar exhibits x-ray bursts like that seen only in magnetars, which have ultrahigh magnetic fields, implying that neutron stars exhibit a continuum of magnetic activity. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Sr Lattice Clock at 1 x 10^–16 Fractional Uncertainty by Remote Optical Evaluation with a Ca Clock

A. D. Ludlow, T. Zelevinsky, G. K. Campbell, S. Blatt, M. M. Boyd, M. H. G. de Miranda, M. J. Martin, J. W. Thomsen, S. M. Foreman, Jun Ye, T. M. Fortier, J. E. Stalnaker, S. A. Diddams, Y. Le Coq, Z. W. Barber, N. Poli, N. D. Lemke, K. M. Beck, and C. W. Oates
Science 28 March 2008: 1805-1808.
Published online 14 February 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1153341] (in Science Express Reports)
Two clocks based on optical transitions in single trapped ions, set 4 kilometers apart, are able to keep time within a fractional error of 1 × 10^-16, better than the standard atomic clock. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Frequency Ratio of Al⁺ and Hg⁺ Single-Ion Optical Clocks; Metrology at the 17th Decimal Place

T. Rosenband, D. B. Hume, P. O. Schmidt, C. W. Chou, A. Brusch, L. Lorini, W. H. Oskay, R. E. Drullinger, T. M. Fortier, J. E. Stalnaker, S. A. Diddams, W. C. Swann, N. R. Newbury, W. M. Itano, D. J. Wineland, and J. C. Bergquist
Science 28 March 2008: 1808-1812.
Published online 6 March 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1154622] (in Science Express Reports)
Precise measurements of the frequency ratio of two optical clocks indicate that the fine-structure constant is fine and constant to an uncertainty of 10^-17. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Self-Assembly of Large and Small Molecules into Hierarchically Ordered Sacs and Membranes

Ramille M. Capito, Helena S. Azevedo, Yuri S. Velichko, Alvaro Mata, and Samuel I. Stupp
Science 28 March 2008: 1812-1816.
Mixing of a high–molecular weight polymer with a low–molecular weight peptide amphiphile instantly forms repairable membrane sacs large enough to encapsulate cells. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

The Transition from Stiff to Compliant Materials in Squid Beaks

Ali Miserez, Todd Schneberk, Chengjun Sun, Frank W. Zok, and J. Herbert Waite
Science 28 March 2008: 1816-1819.
The squid beak, sharp and hard only at the tip, exhibits a chemical gradient that tailors its mechanical properties to prevent damage to the attached soft muscle tissue. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Determining Transition-State Geometries in Liquids Using 2D-IR

James F. Cahoon, Karma R. Sawyer, Jacob P. Schlegel, and Charles B. Harris
Science 28 March 2008: 1820-1823.
Tracking vibrational modes through a transition state by spectroscopy reveals an iron compound’s thermal ligand rearrangement, which was previously too fast to monitor. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Surface Trapping of Atoms and Molecules with Dipole Rings

Hugo Dil, Jorge Lobo-Checa, Robert Laskowski, Peter Blaha, Simon Berner, Jürg Osterwalder, and Thomas Greber
Science 28 March 2008: 1824-1826.
Holes in a boron nitride surface ringed by in-plane dipoles form a nanometer-scale pore network with a trapping potential that can hold weakly adsorbed molecules. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Nutritional Control of Reproductive Status in Honeybees via DNA Methylation

R. Kucharski, J. Maleszka, S. Foret, and R. Maleszka
Science 28 March 2008: 1827-1830.
Published online 13 March 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1153069] (in Science Express Reports)
Epigenetic modifications that involve methylation cause female honeybee larvae to become queens rather than workers when they are fed royal jelly. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

The Flavivirus Precursor Membrane-Envelope Protein Complex: Structure and Maturation

Long Li, Shee-Mei Lok, I-Mei Yu, Ying Zhang, Richard J. Kuhn, Jue Chen, and Michael G. Rossmann
Science 28 March 2008: 1830-1834.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Structure of the Immature Dengue Virus at Low pH Primes Proteolytic Maturation

I-Mei Yu, Wei Zhang, Heather A. Holdaway, Long Li, Victor A. Kostyuchenko, Paul R. Chipman, Richard J. Kuhn, Michael G. Rossmann, and Jue Chen
Science 28 March 2008: 1834-1837.
Dengue and West Nile viruses mature when the envelope protein precursor is cleaved at low pH, and then the cleavage product dissociates outside the cell, allowing infection. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Insect Odorant Receptors Are Molecular Targets of the Insect Repellent DEET

Mathias Ditzen, Maurizio Pellegrino, and Leslie B. Vosshall
Science 28 March 2008: 1838-1842.
Published online 13 March 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1153121] (in Science Express Reports)
The widely used insect repellent DEET acts by inhibiting olfactory neurons that respond to odors such as those that attract insects to their hosts. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Aversive Learning Enhances Perceptual and Cortical Discrimination of Indiscriminable Odor Cues

Wen Li, James D. Howard, Todd B. Parrish, and Jay A. Gottfried
Science 28 March 2008: 1842-1845.
After association of negative stimuli to one of a pair of initially indistinguishable odors, human participants learn to tell the two odors apart and show altered brain representations. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Electric Fields Due to Synaptic Currents Sharpen Excitatory Transmission

Sergiy Sylantyev, Leonid P. Savtchenko, Yin-Ping Niu, Anton I. Ivanov, Thomas P. Jensen, Dimitri M. Kullmann, Min-Yi Xiao, and Dmitri A. Rusakov
Science 28 March 2008: 1845-1849.
The electrical field set up by currents within the synaptic cleft can influence diffusion of negatively charged neurotransmitters, such as glutamate, and prolong excitatory events. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Rule Learning by Rats

Robin A. Murphy, Esther Mondragón, and Victoria A. Murphy
Science 28 March 2008: 1849-1851.
Rats can learn the rules governing simple sequences of stimuli and then unexpectedly can generalize these rules to new situations. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|