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Volume 451 Issue 7182, 28 February 2008

After being starved of funds for many years, the efforts of the Gates Foundation and others have raised the stakes in the war against malaria, still a major killer, especially in Africa. This week's Nature looks at the prospects for progress. There is still no vaccine. Brendan Maher explains why, and reports on the push to develop one. Zambia is one of the hardest hit countries and in 2005 launched a plan to cut malaria incidence by 75% by 2008. Michael Hopkin reports on the work of the Malaria Institute at Macha, a centre of excellence established to bolster the national effort and to export expertise to other countries. In a Commentary, epidemiologist Mark Grabowsky stresses the importance of spending the 'new money' in the right way ãƒâƒã‚â‚ãƒâ‚ã‚â— on surveillance networks for example. Martin Kemp browses the notebooks of Ronald Ross, and finds more than 'just' the discovery linking malaria and the mosquito. See also the Editorial and the online malaria special on http://www.nature.com/news/specials/malaria/index.html.

Editorial

  • The Spanish government has doubled research spending in four years. The next government must create the legal structures to ensure that this money is wisely spent.

    Editorial

    Advertisement

  • The battle against anti-scientific literalism continues. Next stop Texas.

    Editorial
  • With money now flowing in, the fight against malaria must shift from advocacy to getting results.

    Editorial
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Research Highlights

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Journal Club

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News

  • The formerly Serbian province of Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence on 17 February. Some 10,000 Serbian students and academics live in enclaves in the ethnically divided city of Kosovska Mitrovica in the north of the new country dominated by Kosovar Albanians. Endocrinologist Aleksandar Jovanovic, vice-rector for science and international relations at the University of Mitrovica, discusses recent events.

    • Quirin Schiermeier
    News
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News in Brief

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News

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News in Brief

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News Feature

  • After decades of work, a pioneering malaria vaccine may soon reach the final phase of clinical trials. In the first of two features on efforts against malaria, Brendan Maher reports on a vaccine that is far from perfect - but which may provide new direction and save thousands of lives.

    • Brendan Maher
    News Feature
  • Zambia, with help from partners around the world, is stepping up its battle against malaria. Michael Hopkin reports from the rural front line.

    • Michael Hopkin
    News Feature
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Correspondence

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Commentary

  • For years the global malaria effort has been asking for more resources. Now the field needs to figure out a systematic strategy for spending the money effectively, says Mark Grabowsky.

    • Mark Grabowsky
    Commentary
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Books & Arts

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Essay

  • As counterfeit drugs abound, Adrian Johns recalls how medical patenting was created in the seventeenth century to secure trust across growing international trade networks by quashing fakes.

    • Adrian Johns
    Essay
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News & Views

  • Deposits in a Chinese cave tell the story of the region's climate stretching back more than 200,000 years, well past the last interglacial warm period — an invaluable resource for understanding the Asian monsoon.

    • Jonathan Overpeck
    • Julia Cole
    News & Views
  • The process of meiosis involves genetic shuffling that dilutes the desirable traits of sexually reproducing crops. Identification of a mutation in which shuffling does not occur is a step forward for plant breeders.

    • Peter J. van Dijk
    News & Views
  • Chemists have long memories. The claim, dating back to 1918, that a crucial step in a synthesis of quinine had been carried out has been validated experimentally, closing a chapter in this fascinating story.

    • Philip Ball
    News & Views
  • Certain cancers stem from mutations that prevent a cell from repairing its damaged DNA efficiently. But antitumour chemotherapy that exploits that repair defect can in turn be nullified by counter-mutation.

    • David M. Livingston
    • Daniel P. Silver
    News & Views
  • Global economic growth during the past century has lifted many into lives of unprecedented luxury. The cost has been the degradation of vital ecosystems — a cost borne disproportionately by the world's poor.

    • R. Kerry Turner
    • Brendan Fisher
    News & Views
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Review Article

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Article

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Letter

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Prospects

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Movers

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Networks and Support

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Career View

  • My peers are my mentors.

    • Amanda Goh
    Career View
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Futures

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Authors

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Brief Communications Arising

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