Volume 514 Issue 7524, 30 October 2014

Time to ramp up science’s contribution to controlling the Ebola outbreak.

Papers in Nature journals should make computer code accessible where possible.

The anxiety and stigma associated with Ebola are hampering Australia's willingness and ability to help with the control efforts in Africa, argues Tim Inglis.

The week in science: China launches its first round-trip lunar mission; skydiver leaps from record heights; and EU leaders agree on landmark climate deal.

Sulphur-rich eruption defies preparations for an ashy blast.

World Health Organization lacks resources to witness destruction of stocks.

Five-year Chinese study suggests that human activity made gelatinous outbreaks worse.

Trials would study extension of lifespan in domestic setting.

First of five linked institutes aims to capitalize on basic-research investments.

Sequenced genomes reveal mutations that disable single genes and can point to new drugs.

Nature explores the most-cited research of all time.

Scientists know a lot about the virus that causes Ebola — but there are many puzzles that they have yet to solve.

Asteroid retrieval is a distraction, says Richard P. Binzel. Better steps to interplanetary travel abound.

John P. A. Ioannidis and colleagues asked the most highly cited biomedical scientists to score their top-ten papers in six ways.

Tilli Tansey surveys a magisterial, historically rich biography of autoimmunity.

Barbara Kiser reviews five of the week's best science picks.

George Szpiro weighs up a life of John Napier, who gifted science with logarithms.

The sequences of two sponge genomes provide evidence that the ParaHox developmental genes are older than previously thought. This has implications for animal taxonomy and for developmental and evolutionary biology. See Letter p.620

Astronomers have suspected for some time that magnetic fields are a key ingredient in the accretion of material that surrounds young stars. New observations have just begun to reveal these fields in action. See Letter p.597

The structure of an enzyme that is bound to a nucleosome — a protein complex around which DNA is wrapped — reveals how contacts between the two orient the enzyme so that it can modify a specific amino-acid residue. See Article p.591

Engineering complex tissues requires high-throughput, three-dimensional patterning of materials and cells. A method to assemble small gel components using magnetic forces from encapsulated free radicals could be just the ticket.

Fibroblast cells are known as key players in the repair of damaged heart structures. New findings show that injury also induces fibroblasts to become endothelial cells, helping to mend damaged blood vessels. See Article p.585

A study finds that the cells lining the gut are modified in response to systemic infection, increasing the host's tolerance to infection in a manner that is dependent on the microorganisms that inhabit the gut. See Letter p.638

Three new euharamiyidan species from the Jurassic period of China are described, cementing the alliance with multituberculates and showing that the initial divergence between groups of extant mammals—monotremes on the one side, marsupials and placentals on the other—goes back to the Triassic period.

This study shows that cardiac injury induces cardiac fibroblasts to undergo mesenchymal–endothelial transition and acquire an endothelial-cell like fate, a process mediated, in part, by a p53-dependent mechanism — use of a small molecule activator of p53 increases mesenchymal–endothelial transition, leading to reduced scarring and better preservation of heart function.

The crystal structure of the PRC1 ubiquitylation module bound to its nucleosome core substrate is determined, revealing how a histone-modifying enzyme achieves substrate specificity by recognizing nucleosome surfaces distinct from the site of catalysis, and uncovering a unique role for the ubiquitin E2 enzyme in substrate recognition.

Measurements of polarized 1.25-mm continuum emission from the accretion disk of the T Tauri star HL Tau show that the magnetic field inside the disk cannot be dominated by a vertical component, and that a purely toroidal field also does not fit the data; this suggests that the role of the magnetic field in the accretion of a T Tauri star is more complex than the current theoretical understanding.

Investigation of the triple stellar system GG Tau A reveals gas fragments within the central cavity between the Keplerian outer ring orbiting the entire system and the stars themselves; gas flow from this outer ring appears capable of sustaining the inner disk surrounding component star GG Tau Aa beyond the accretion lifetime, leaving time for planet formation to occur.

Quantum tomography of individual electrons, which in principle yields complete knowledge of their quantum states, is demonstrated by initially preparing them in a well-controlled quantum state called a leviton.

In graphene nanoribbons of ‘zigzag’ edge orientation, the edges host unpaired electron spins that couple to generate long-range magnetic order (switching from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic inter-edge configuration as the ribbon width increases) under ambient conditions, enhancing the prospects for graphene-based spintronic devices.

Short carbon nanotubes spontaneously insert into lipid bilayers and live cell membranes to form channels with useful and tunable transport properties that make them a promising biomimetic nanopore platform for developing cell interfaces, studying nanofluidic transport in biological channels, and creating stochastic sensors.

Carbon dioxide and methane records from a West Antarctic ice core show that although gradual variations in the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide during the last glacial termination are linked to changes in Antarctic temperature, the concentration underwent three abrupt, centennial-scale changes related to sudden climate changes in the Northern Hemisphere.

A study of the genomes of calcisponges shows that they contain at least one ParaHox gene, adding weight to the ‘ghost locus’ hypothesis that Hox and ParaHox genes were present in the earliest animal ancestor, but subsequently lost in some sponge lineages.

A functional assessment of paternal gene activation in Arabidopsis confirms that paternal genome activation does not occur in one early discrete step, shows that maternal and paternal genomes do not make equivalent contributions to early plant embryogenesis, and uncovers an unexpectedly large effect of hybrid genetic background on paternal gene activity.

KRAS mutations are a driver event of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; here, a subpopulation of dormant tumour cells, relying on oxidative phosphorylation for survival, is shown to be responsible for tumour relapse after treatment targeting the KRAS pathway.

The Staphylococcus epidermidis CRISPR-Cas system can prevent lytic infection but tolerate lysogenization by temperate phage through a transcription-dependent DNA targeting mechanism.

Systemic exposure to Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands during sickness is shown to induce fucosylation of the small intestine in mice; some of the fucose is shed into the intestinal lumen, where it provides nourishment for the microbiota.

A mutation in VRC01, a broadly neutralizing, HIV-1-specific antibody, confers enhanced binding to the neonatal Fc receptor, increasing the antibody half-life in the serum and localization in mucosal tissues, where it provides superior protection against rectal simian HIV-1 infection in macaques.

Simultaneous disruption of two different protein–protein interactions within the (APC/C–Cdc20)–substrate complex can synergistically inhibit APC/C-dependent proteolysis and mitotic exit.

The transcriptions of frq sense and antisense RNAs are mutually inhibitory and form a double negative feedback loop required for robust and sustained circadian rhythmicity: antisense transcription inhibits sense expression by causing chromatin modifications and premature transcription termination.

Ohio's investments into research are ushering the state from a manufacturing past into a knowledge-economy future.

The silent treatment.

Millions of people around the world rely on rice as the bulk of their daily diet. This snapshot of the crop's production, consumption and trade shows an overall surplus, but population growth in future decades may affect the situation, writes Emily Elert.

Rice is a staple food, but production is not keeping pace with the rise in global population. So scientists are dreaming big and aiming high to change the future for this crucial grain.

Golden rice could help to end a nutritional crisis — but only if researchers can overcome some daunting technical and political hurdles.

From a wild Asian grass to a refined crop that is the staple diet of half the world's population, the domestication of Oryza sativa spans centuries, but the grain's ancestry is hotly contested.

Scientists are hoping to make the world's most successful crop even better.

Around the world, researchers are looking for ways to rid rice of a troublesome companion.

Africa's newfound taste for an old grain has experienced problems — drought, low yields and costly imports. But new projects are driving the continent towards self-sufficiency.

Corporate inefficiency and government meddling are curbing production of the vital crop in the countries that need it most, says Robert Zeigler.

A simple grain with global impact, rice has helped to build empires and fed revolutions. Now, scientists are starting a rice revolution of their own to feed a hungry world. By decoding genetics, improving breeding and, perhaps, reshaping the plant's biology, researchers are working to take the world’s most vital crop into the future.