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Volume 531 Issue 7594, 17 March 2016

Protective suits left to dry after an Ebola training session held by the Spanish Red Cross in Madrid in October 2014. A new study in this issue reports the discovery of a small-molecule drug, GS-5734, which has antiviral activity against Ebola and other filoviruses, and is capable of providing post-exposure protection against Ebola virus in 100% of infected macaques tested. Now in clinical trials (http://go.nature.com/PEW2Oi), the drug targets the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and is readily scalable for future outbreaks. GS-5734 is able to distribute to sanctuary sites for viral replication including the testes, eye and brain, offering the hope that this drug may also be able to clear recrudescent and persistent virus infection. Cover photo: Susana Vera/Reuters

Editorial

  • A new forum promises to bring deserved prestige to outstanding African researchers, and demonstrates the continent’s untapped potential.

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  • Growing urbanization is heralding a new era of science in the city.

    Editorial
  • The promise of DNA origami shows signs of coming to fruition a decade after its debut.

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World View

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Research Highlights

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Seven Days

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News

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News Feature

  • A controversial study has suggested that the neurodegenerative disease might be transferred from one person to another. Now scientists are racing to find out whether that is true.

    • Alison Abbott
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Comment

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Books & Arts

  • David Hurst Thomas explores the controversies over collections of human remains and plundered artefacts.

    • David Hurst Thomas
    Books & Arts
  • Barbara Kiser reviews five of the week's best science picks.

    • Barbara Kiser
    Books & Arts
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Correspondence

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News & Views

  • Microscopy reveals how nanowires of a widely used semiconductor grow during preparation. The findings will allow the crystal phases of such nanowires to be engineered — a crucial advance for materials science. See Article p.317

    • Anna Fontcuberta i Morral
    News & Views
  • Stem-cell engineering has allowed successful cornea transplantations in rabbits and the regeneration of transparent lens tissue in children, demonstrating the therapeutic potential of this approach. See Article p.323 & Letter p.376

    • Julie T. Daniels
    News & Views
  • Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel use in China have grown dramatically in the past few decades, yet it emerges that the country's relative contribution to global climate change has remained surprisingly constant. See Letter p.357

    • Dominick V. Spracklen
    News & Views
  • Scientists have created soft microrobots whose body shapes can be controlled by structured light, and which self-propel by means of travelling-wave body deformations similar to those exhibited by swimming protozoa.

    • Igor S. Aranson
    News & Views
  • The HBx protein of hepatitis B virus has been found to co-opt a host-cell enzyme that targets the Smc5/6 protein complex for degradation. The finding identifies Smc5/6 as a cellular antiviral factor. See Letter p.386

    • T. Jake Liang
    News & Views
  • An in situ experiment finds that reducing the acidity of the seawater surrounding a natural coral reef significantly increases reef calcification, suggesting that ocean acidification may already be slowing coral growth. See Letter p.362

    • Janice M. Lough
    News & Views
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Article

  • Crystal phase switching between zinc-blende and wurtzite phases during the growth of gallium arsenide nanowires is observed experimentally, and explained via changes in the geometry of the catalytic droplet sitting on top of the growing nanowire.

    • Daniel Jacobsson
    • Federico Panciera
    • Frances M. Ross
    Article
  • Here the authors use in crystallo enzymology to obtain structural snapshots of a complete cellulose biosynthesis cycle and reveal the mechanism by which the bacterial cellulose synthase BcsA–BcsB translocates the nascent cellulose polymer.

    • Jacob L. W. Morgan
    • Joshua T. McNamara
    • Jochen Zimmer
    Article
  • X-ray crystal structures of the M1 and M4 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, revealing differences in the orthosteric and allosteric binding sites that help to explain the subtype selectivity of drugs targeting this family of receptors.

    • David M. Thal
    • Bingfa Sun
    • Arthur Christopoulos
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Letter

  • By calculating the rotational figure of Mars and its surface topography before the Tharsis volcanic region caused true polar wander, it is shown that Tharsis formed during the Noachian and Hesperian periods at about the same time as the valley networks; early Mars climate simulations suggest icy precipitation in a latitudinal band in the southern hemisphere.

    • Sylvain Bouley
    • David Baratoux
    • Francois Costard
    Letter
  • Magnetic molecules are candidates for solid-state spin qubits from which a quantum computer might be constructed, but the magnetic interactions between such molecules typically lead to unwanted decoherence; now magnetic molecules have been designed in such a way that their spin dynamics are energetically protected against the decoherence-inducing interactions.

    • Muhandis Shiddiq
    • Dorsa Komijani
    • Stephen Hill
    Letter
  • Using a global coupled biogeochemistry–climate model and a chemistry and transport model reveals that China’s present-day global radiative forcing is about ten per cent of the current global total, made up of both warming and cooling contributions; if in the future China reduces the cooling forcings, global warming could accelerate.

    • Bengang Li
    • Thomas Gasser
    • Feng Zhou
    Letter
  • Vocalizations were recorded for over eight distinct whale species as they converged on a shoal of herring to feed; the predators divided the shoal into overlapping but species-specific foraging sectors and the activities of the whales changed between day and night.

    • Delin Wang
    • Heriberto Garcia
    • Purnima Ratilal
    Letter
  • Igf1 is identified in mice as an experience-induced gene that functions cell-autonomously to increase inhibitory input onto a disinhibitory subtype of GABAergic neurons in the cortex, affecting the downstream excitation–inhibition balance within circuits that regulate visual acuity, and providing a novel example of experience modulating neural plasticity.

    • A. R. Mardinly
    • I. Spiegel
    • M. E. Greenberg
    Letter
  • A protocol has been developed to use human induced pluripotent stem cells to obtain a self-formed ectodermal autonomous multizone, which includes distinct cell lineages of the eye, including the ocular surface ectoderm, lens, neuro-retina, and retinal pigment epithelium that can be expanded to form a functional corneal epithelium when transplanted to an animal model of corneal visual impairment.

    • Ryuhei Hayashi
    • Yuki Ishikawa
    • Kohji Nishida

    Collection:

    Letter
  • The discovery is reported of a small molecule drug, GS-5734, which has antiviral activity against Ebola virus and other filoviruses, and is capable of providing post-exposure therapeutic protection against lethal disease in 100% of drug-treated nonhuman primates infected with Ebola virus; the drug targets viral RNA polymerase and can distribute to sanctuary sites (such as testes, eyes and brain), suggesting that it may be able to clear persistent virus infection.

    • Travis K. Warren
    • Robert Jordan
    • Sina Bavari
    Letter
  • Maternal mRNAs are tethered within the Drosophila germ plasm via base-pairing interactions between mRNAs and piRNPs containing the Aub Piwi protein; the preference for certain mRNAs to be tethered appears to be related to their longer length, which provides more potential piRNP-binding sites, and the results suggest a new role for piRNAs in germ-cell specification independent of their role in transposon silencing.

    • Anastassios Vourekas
    • Panagiotis Alexiou
    • Zissimos Mourelatos
    Letter
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Corrigendum

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Technology Feature

  • Scientists are designing cells that can manufacture drugs, food and materials — and even act as diagnostic biosensors. But first they must agree on a set of engineering tools.

    • Michael Eisenstein

    Collection:

    Technology Feature
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Feature

  • Career-development plans can point researchers in directions they might not have expected, but they take commitment.

    • Paul Smaglik
    Feature
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Q&A

  • Christina Papke describes how she found the perfect job in research development.

    • Monya Baker
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Futures

  • Interactive fieldwork.

    • S. R. Algernon
    Futures
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Brief Communications Arising

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Outlook

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Nature Index

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