イタリア政府当局は、科学的検証が十分でない幹細胞治療の臨床試験の実施を認めるべきではない。

Trial and error p.125

Italian officials should not go ahead with expensive clinical tests of an unproven stem-cell therapy that has no good scientific basis.

doi: 10.1038/499125a

ドイツの研究助成機関DFGは、不正行為の内部告発に関する指針を改訂したが、誤った告発の扱いや秘密保持の規定をもっと明確化すべきだ。

In the dark p.125

Germany’s main funding agency must specify how it will deal with false charges of misconduct.

doi: 10.1038/499125b

科学分野の情報伝達の在り方は激しく様変わりしているが、事実の究明や調査を重視する報道は今でも重要だ。

Headline message p.126

Science communication is changing, but investigative reporting is still important.

doi: 10.1038/499126a

米アリゾナ州に設置された大型双眼望遠鏡（LBT）に、初動トラブルの悩みが。

Teething troubles at huge telescope p.133

The Large Binocular Telescope gets off to a sluggish start.

doi: 10.1038/499133a

著作権に関する新たな国際条約が制定され、視覚障害者の出版物へのアクセスが容易に。

Deal boosts blind’s access to texts p.134

Global copyright agreement will increase availability of scientific texts in accessible formats.

doi: 10.1038/499134a

電子顕微鏡の分解能アップは、ノイズの問題でそろそろ限界に。

Imaging hits noise barrier p.135

Physical limits mean that electron microscopy may be nearing highest possible resolution.

doi: 10.1038/499135a

安倍政権の「日本版NIH」構想に、研究者たちから、基礎科学がないがしろにされるとの強い懸念が。

Outcry over plans for ‘Japanese NIH’ p.136

Researchers fear reforms will bring cuts to basic science.

doi: 10.1038/499136a

米国の中小企業技術革新研究プログラム（SBIR）が商品化推進の姿勢を強め、研究重視の企業が苦境に。

US research firms put under pressure to sell p.137

Commercialization rules threaten to curtail SBIR grants.

doi: 10.1038/499137a

気候変動：あいまいなまま、ますます熱を帯びる近未来予報

Climate change: The forecast for 2018 is cloudy with record heat p.139

5年、10年先の気候変動予測が試みられているが、これまでのところ精度は上がっていない。

doi: 10.1038/499139a

科学メディア：注目の的

Science media: Centre of attention p.142

科学報道をより良いものにしようとするFiona Foxとサイエンス・メディア・センターの試みが、世界に広まりつつある。

doi: 10.1038/499142a

フォーラム：マラリア：寄生虫分子の秘密

Malaria: Molecular secrets of a parasite p.156

マラリア原虫（ Plasmodium falciparum ）が自身のvar遺伝子の発現を操作して宿主免疫系による監視を回避する仕組みが明らかにされた。4人の専門家が、この結果が一般的な遺伝子調節の解明、また抗マラリアワクチンの開発にどのように関係してくるかを論じている。

doi: 10.1038/nature12407

地球物理学：大陸を裂く第三の方法

Geophysics: A third way to rift continents p.157

大陸の地溝形成は、普通は地溝形成が起きている地域から遠く離れた場所で生じた作用に基づく2つの機構のどちらかによって説明される。実験によって、この地球力学過程は局地的な作用によっても生じ得ることが示された。

doi: 10.1038/499157a

光物性：光の奇想天外な捕捉法

Optical physics: Trapping the light fantastic p.159

フォトニック結晶と呼ばれる材料を使って、ある意味で完全な鏡が設計された。原理的には、光はこの鏡を通過することも、鏡によって吸収されることもないのである。

doi: 10.1038/499159a

地球科学：気候目標に対する全体論的な迫り方

Earth science: A holistic approach to climate targets p.160

複数の気候目標を計算に入れて許容炭素排出量を計算すると、気温変化だけに注目した研究から推定された値よりも少ない許容排出量が得られることが分かった。

doi: 10.1038/nature12406

細胞生物学：脂質スイッチと輸送制御

Cell biology: Lipid switches and traffic control p.161

細胞の1つの膜から出芽する輸送小胞は、他の小胞と融合する前に性質を変えなければならない。クラスリンが仲介するエンドサイトーシスの過程では、さまざまなリン酸化脂質がこの性質変換を仲介している。

doi: 10.1038/nature12408

量子物理学：量子因数分解の過剰な単純化

Oversimplifying quantum factoring p.163

doi: 10.1038/nature12290

細胞生物学：足場タンパク質Shc1によるEGFシグナル伝達ネットワークの経時的な調節

Temporal regulation of EGF signalling networks by the scaffold protein Shc1 p.166

The Shc1 scaffold mediates a switch in the signaling output of the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase over time through recruitment of successive waves of proteins with distinct biological functions.

doi: 10.1038/nature12308

生化学：遺伝子調節を解読するためのRNA結合モチーフの概要

A compendium of RNA-binding motifs for decoding gene regulation p.172

This study reports a global analysis of binding sites for over 200 RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) from 24 species; conserved RNA-binding motifs are identified, and their analysis allows prediction of interaction sites based on the sequence of the RNA-binding domain alone.

doi: 10.1038/nature12311

医学：結核菌の調節ネットワークと低酸素

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis regulatory network and hypoxia p.178

Mycobacterium tuberculosis has the ability to survive within the host for months to decades in an asymptomatic state, and adaptations to hypoxia are thought to have an important role in pathogenesis; here a systems-wide reconstruction of the regulatory network provides a framework for understanding mycobacterial persistence in the host.

doi: 10.1038/nature12337

宇宙：デブリ円盤における、惑星ではなくガスによる鮮明な離心環の形成

Formation of sharp eccentric rings in debris disks with gas but without planets p.184

The narrow rings seen in some debris disks, thought to be evidence for hidden exoplanets, might instead be caused by gas–dust interaction and a recently identified photoelectric instability.

doi: 10.1038/nature12281

光学：連続スペクトル放射における捕捉された光の観測

Observation of trapped light within the radiation continuum p.188

Theoretical and experimental studies reveal that light can be confined within a planar dielectric photonic crystal slab even though the frequency of this optical bound state is inside the continuous spectrum of extended states from the same symmetry group.

doi: 10.1038/nature12289

化学：逆リバウンド機構による金属を用いない芳香族炭素–水素結合の酸化

Metal-free oxidation of aromatic carbon–hydrogen bonds through a reverse-rebound mechanism p.192

Phthaloyl peroxide functions as a selective oxidant of C–H bonds in the transformation of arenes to phenols under mild conditions, in a reaction that is compatible with a wide array of functional groups.

doi: 10.1038/nature12284

気候：複数の気候目標によって減少する許容炭素排出量

Allowable carbon emissions lowered by multiple climate targets p.197

The amount of greenhouse gas emissions that will limit the risks from such emissions has been set by the goal of keeping global warming below two degrees Celsius above preindustrial, but this study sets thresholds for sea level rise, ocean acidification and agricultural productivity as well as warming and shows that emissions need to be lowered even further.

doi: 10.1038/nature12269

地球：1日の長さの10年以下の変動に見られる特性とその影響

Characterization and implications of intradecadal variations in length of day p.202

Variations in Earth's rotation show clear signals of a 5.9-year oscillation and jumps in Earth’s moment of inertia; correlation with the geomagnetic field suggests an origin in Earth’s core and constrains the conductivity and thus the composition and mineralogy of the deep mantle.

doi: 10.1038/nature12282

生態：地下生物圏における遺伝子発現

Gene expression in the deep biosphere p.205

Gene expression of microbes in anaerobic sediment from the Peru Margin at depths up to 159 metres below the sea floor is analysed: anaerobic metabolism of amino acids, carbohydrates and lipids are seen to be the dominant metabolic processes, and genes associated with cell division are found to be correlated with microbial cell concentration, suggesting that ongoing cell division contributes to biomass turnover.

doi: 10.1038/nature12230

遺伝：エミリアニア属（Emiliania）の植物プランクトンの世界的分布を支えるパンゲノム

Pan genome of the phytoplankton Emiliania underpins its global distribution OPEN p.209

A reference genome from the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi is presented, along with sequences from 13 additional isolates, revealing a pan genome comprising core genes and genes variably distributed between strains: E. huxleyi is found to harbour extensive genetic variability under different metabolic repertoires, explaining its ability to thrive under a diverse range of environmental conditions.

doi: 10.1038/nature12221

医学：がんにおける突然変異の不均一性と新たながん関連遺伝子の探索

Mutational heterogeneity in cancer and the search for new cancer-associated genes p.214

As the sample size in cancer genome studies increases, the list of genes identified as significantly mutated is likely to include more false positives; here, this problem is identified as stemming largely from mutation heterogeneity, and a new analytical methodology designed to overcome this problem is described.

doi: 10.1038/nature12213

微生物学：抗生物質投与はファージメタゲノムの耐性リザーバーおよび生態的ネットワークを拡大させる

Antibiotic treatment expands the resistance reservoir and ecological network of the phage metagenome p.219

By exploring the phageome in mice, antibiotic treatment is shown to lead to enrichment of phage-encoded genes that are related to antibiotic resistance.

doi: 10.1038/nature12212

分子生物学：PfSETvsによるヒストンH3K36メチル化は熱帯熱マラリア原虫の毒性遺伝子を抑制する

PfSETvs methylation of histone H3K36 represses virulence genes in Plasmodium falciparum p.223

The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum escapes immune detection by expressing one of 60 antigenically distinct var genes at any one time during the course of infection: here it is shown that the P. falciparum protein PfSETvs has a key role in var gene silencing through the trimethylation of histone H3K36.

doi: 10.1038/nature12361

再生医学：爪上皮におけるWnt活性化が爪の成長と指の再生を結びつける

Wnt activation in nail epithelium couples nail growth to digit regeneration p.228

Nail stem cells (NSCs) reside in the proximal nail matrix, and early nail progenitors undergo Wnt-dependent differentiation into the nail; after amputation, Wnt activation is required for nail and digit regeneration, and amputations proximal to the Wnt-active nail progenitors fail to regenerate, but β-catenin stabilization in the NSC region induces regeneration.

doi: 10.1038/nature12214

細胞生物学：エンドサイトーシスのホスファチジルイノシトール-3,4-ビスリン酸による空間的・時間的制御

Spatiotemporal control of endocytosis by phosphatidylinositol-3,4-bisphosphate p.233

Phosphoinositides are important regulators of intracellular membrane traffic, and although the role of PI(4,5)P₂ has been well characterised, the function of PI(3,4)P₂ remains unclear; here the formation of PI(3,4)P₂ by the class II phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase C2α enzyme is shown to control clathrin-mediated endocytosis.

doi: 10.1038/nature12360

分子生物学：NFAT活性化に関するsiRNAスクリーニングによって、セプチンがストア作動性Ca²⁺流入の調節因子であることが明らかになった

An siRNA screen for NFAT activation identifies septins as coordinators of store-operated Ca2+ entry p.238

A genome-wide RNA interference analysis identifies the septin family of cytoskeletal filaments as important regulators of store-operated Ca²⁺ entry into the cell; septins are shown to organize plasma membrane microdomains important in STIM1 and ORAI1 signalling, and may also be relevant in membrane microdomains underlying other signalling processes.

doi: 10.1038/nature12229