Volume 484 Issue 7393, 12 April 2012

The plagiarism police deserve thanks for defending the honour of the PhD.

Bankers must now surrender more information on their activities. Scientists should use it to build better system-wide financial models, says John Liechty.

The week in science: Malaria drug resistance spreading; anti-doping scientist resigns over confidentiality clauses; and the GM ‘Enviropig’ is off the menu.

Health ministry’s attempt at regulation has had little effect.

Virus papers get green light but controversy highlights lack of global rules on biosafety.

China moves forward with demonstration power plant as United Kingdom revives carbon-capture programme.

Biotech firm Illumina continues to resist takeover — but analysts suggest that a merger is inevitable.

Climate models reveal the red planet was mostly cold and dry.

Split-site solution could allow both Australia and South Africa to host parts of the Square Kilometre Array.

Researchers in Britain have tracked thousands of children since their birth in the 1990s. Now the study is 21, and turning to the next generation.

For a nation of its talent and education, India deserves higher scientific standing. It needs clear and honest leadership, not more money, says Gautam R. Desiraju.

To reduce airborne soot, organics and sulphates, tailored strategies for each must be established and coal use limited, say Qiang Zhang, Kebin He and Hong Huo.

Author and playwright Michael Frayn explores the wellsprings of creativity through farce, philosophy and the history of science. His eclectic output ranges from non-fiction books such as The Human Touch (2006) to plays including Noises Off (1982) and Copenhagen (1998) — which explores the 1941 meeting between quantum physicists Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, with Frayn imagining their discussions on the morality of working on nuclear weapons. With his latest novel, Skios, coming out next month, he talks about determinism and the paradox of existence.

David Kaiser marks the 50th anniversary of an exemplary account of the cycles of scientific progress.

Atmospheric chemist who linked human activity to ozone depletion.

A cutting-edge global climate model links atmospheric aerosol emissions to temperature variability in the North Atlantic Ocean, suggesting that human activity influences extreme weather events. See Letter p.228

Transcription factors regulate the expression of genes by binding to certain DNA sequences. But the outcome can be markedly different, depending on whether the binding is stable or short-lived. See Letter p.251

Ageing stars produce elements vital for life and disperse them into space on stellar winds. The discovery of large dust grains in the vicinity of cool giant stars sheds light on the mechanisms that drive such winds. See Letter p.220

Bacteria direct their movement in response to certain chemicals by controlling the rotation of whip-like appendages called flagella. The sensitivity of the response can be adjusted at the signal's target, the flagellar motor. See Letter p.233

Advances in the chemistry of high-oxidation-state copper and palladium demonstrate their great potential as catalysts.

Pathogenic fungi are increasingly contributing to the global emerging disease burden, threatening biodiversity and imposing increasing costs on ecosystem health, hence steps must be taken to tighten biosecurity worldwide to reduce the rate of fungal disease emergence.

Single atoms in optical cavities in two separate laboratories are the nodes of an elementary quantum network, in which quantum information is distributed via the controlled emission and absorption of single photons.

Two members of the Teneurin transmembrane protein family are shown to control the synaptic partner matching in the Drosophila olfactory system.

The crystal structure of fission yeast mitotic checkpoint complex (MCC) reveals how MCC assembly is regulated and the molecular basis of anaphase-promoting complex (APC/C) inhibition by MCC.

The X-ray crystal structure of ultraviolet-B-sensing protein UVR8 is determined, revealing that, unlike other known photoreceptors, the chromophore is not an external cofactor but rather two amino acids.

The dust shells of three intermediate-mass stars are observed to lie remarkably close to the photosphere and to be composed of unexpectedly large grains, consistent with mass loss from such stars occurring by means of ejection of this dust by photon scattering rather than as a result of radiation pressure.

Introducing an extremely thin layer of boron nitride between a sapphire substrate and the gallium nitride semiconductor grown on it is shown to facilitate the transfer of the resulting nitride structures to more flexible and affordable substrates.

A state-of-the-art climate model shows that radiative forcing due to anthropogenic and volcanic aerosols explains the variability in sea surface temperature of the North Atlantic between 1950 and 2005.

The motor driving cells during chemotaxis is very sensitive to levels of CheY-P, a signalling protein; counter-intuitively, the motor is tuned to the cells’ output of CheY-P by adjusting the number of CheY-P receptors in the motor, thereby increasing or decreasing the motor’s sensitivity to CheY-P.

Two Drosophila Teneurin proteins, Ten-m and Ten-a, are shown to be required for neuromuscular synapse organization and target selection.

A novel mechanism by which warming temperatures can directly activate flowering in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

Pregnant corin- or ANP-deficient mice have impaired trophoblast invasion and uterine spiral artery remodelling, and patients with pre-eclampsia have lower uterine corin messenger RNA and protein levels than normal pregnancies, suggesting that defects in corin and ANP function may contribute to pre-eclampsia.

Competition ChIP with a sequence-specific S. cerevisiae transcription factor, Rap1, reveals that long Rap1 residence is coupled to transcriptional activation, whereas fast binding turnover is linked to low transcriptional output, suggesting that DNA-binding events that appear identical by conventional ChIP may have different underlying modes of interaction, leading to opposing functional outcomes.

An integrated mechanism for decoding is proposed, based on six X-ray structures of the 70S ribosome determined at 3.1–3.4 Å resolution, modelling cognate or near-cognate states of the decoding centre at the proofreading step.

Two complexes of RNA-binding proteins, Sm and Lsm2–8, act sequentially on telomerase RNA during its biogenesis: the Sm ring promotes 3′-cleavage and facilitates hypermethylation of the 5′-cap, whereas the Lsm2–8 complex aids binding of the telomerase catalytic subunit and prevents degradation of the RNA.

The first three-dimensional description of all the protein modules required for the activation, protection and catalytic steps of B₁₂-dependent methyl transfer.

As increasing numbers of protein–protein interactions are identified, researchers are finding ways to interrogate these data and understand the interactions in a relevant context.

Working at the interface between science and business offers an opportunity to bring ideas to market.

Too many young physicists embark on projects without knowing the risks. There is a better way, argues Abraham Loeb.

An antic disposition.

Researchers have plenty of theories about what might cause multiple sclerosis. But for now, the factor that triggers the disease remains elusive.

More than 100 variations in the genome have been linked to multiple sclerosis. Researchers are now trying to find the overlap with other auto-immune conditions, and understand how environmental factors interact with genes to trigger disease.

For decades, drugs have barely managed to slow the progression of multiple sclerosis. Therapies are now emerging that may even help to reverse the disease — but are they worth the risk?

Researchers are still a long way from using stem cells to halt the decline caused by multiple sclerosis and to restore patients' health. But they are following some promising trails.

A slew of new data suggests that it is time to rethink and reclassify autoimmune disease, says David A. Hafler.

Technologies that better reveal the insidious progression of multiple sclerosis could aid the search for treatments.

Population and genetic studies are confirming the link between multiple sclerosis and vitamin D, says Richard Ransohoff.

Despite some outstanding drug-development successes, the mouse version of multiple sclerosis has been worryingly unreliable at screening human treatments.

Most new treatments for multiple sclerosis are for patients with the relapsing–remitting form of the disease. Those with the more advanced, progressive type are being left behind.

Worms? Stents? Bee stings? Patients with multiple sclerosis who exhaust conventional therapies are turning in desperation to unproven approaches.

Successfully treating multiple sclerosis (MS) will require drugs that can reverse nerve damage and repair the myelin sheaths that coat them. Yet until now the best medicines have only managed to slow disease progression. Nature Outlook: Multiple sclerosis covers the latest research into how MS starts, and explores new ways to diagnose and treat it.