Nature (Vol. 434, No. 7037, 28 April 2005)

110 Pages·2005·7.775 MB·English

Volume 434 Number 7037 pp1053-1164
• Editorials • Brief Communications
• News • Brief Communications
• News Features Arising(this content only
• Correspondence available online)
• Books and Arts • Articles
• Essay • Letters to Nature
• News and Views • Naturejobs
Also this week • Futures
Editor's Summary

Editorials
Dealing with design p1053
The idea of intelligent design is being promoted in schools and universities in the United States and Europe. Rather
than ignoring it, scientists need to understand its appeal and help students recognize the alternatives.

New accountability in China p1053
A Chinese funding agency has a new constitution, supporting better selection. Will it spread?

News
Turkish government accused of hijacking boosted science budget p1055
Research spending tripled as part of bid for EU membership.
Tamara Grüner

Satellite tags give fresh angle on tuna quota p1056
Stocks of prized bluefin in danger of collapse.
Rex Dalton

Physicists look to crystal device for future of fusion p1057
Desktop apparatus yields stream of neutrons.
Mark Peplow

US experts draw up guidelines for stem-cell research p1058
Ethics committees should ban primate chimaera experiments.
Erika Check

Link to infection raises hope of preventing child leukaemia p1058
Radiation, chemicals and power lines are not significant.
Roxanne Khamsi

Corporate culture nets big bucks for university heads p1059
Do fat salaries reward wrong type of leadership?
Emma Marris

Climate change blamed for rise in hay fever p1059
Rachael Williams

news in brief p1060

News Features
Intelligent design: Who has designs on your students' minds? p1062
The intelligent-design movement is a small but growing force on US university campuses. For some it bridges the
gap between science and faith, for others it goes beyond the pale. Geoff Brumfiel meets the movement's vanguard.

Quantum physics: The philosopher of photons p1066
From meeting the Dalai Lama to national media star, Anton Zeilinger is on a mission to bring physics to a wider
audience. Quirin Schiermeier listens in.

Correspondence
A drug is effective if better than a harmless control p1067
Valid trials can still be held, as with HIVNET 012, when ethics rules out a placebo group.
Brooks Jackson and Thomas Fleming

DNA barcoding does not compete with taxonomy p1067
T. Ryan Gregory

Nice planet, shame about the human race p1067
Randall D. Kamien and Madhuri Kaul

I
Books and Arts
Seeing sense p1069
A look back at work that established the link between eye and brain.

Recovered history p1070

Theatre: Artistic differences p1071

Essay
Concept
Predicting with unpredictability p1073
Random numbers: from stone casting to computers to radioactive decay, the generation of random sequences has
always preoccupied mankind.
Gianpietro Malescio

News and Views
Astrophysics: A certain flare p1075
Giant flashes from soft -ray repeaters are spectacular but rare events — only three have ever been observed in
our Galaxy. The suspicion is that we have been missing some from farther afield.
Davide Lazzati

Evolutionary biology: Animal roots and shoots p1076
DNA sequence data from neglected animal groups support a controversial hypothesis of deep evolutionary history.
Inferring that history using only whole-genome sequences can evidently be misleading.
Martin Jones and Mark Blaxter

Technology: Warm fusion p1077
A device that could fit in your lab-coat pocket uses nuclear fusion, and just a little heat, to produce neutrons. The
advantages in simplicity and portability over conventional neutron generators could be considerable.
Michael J. Saltmarsh

100 and 50 years ago p1079

HIV: Viral blitzkrieg p1080
It takes years for AIDS to develop from the damage inflicted on the immune system by HIV or its simian
counterpart. Surprisingly, as many as half of the body's memory T cells may die at a very early stage of infection.
R. Paul Johnson and Amitinder Kaur

Behavioural ecology: Cue for kin p1080
Tim Lincoln

Obituary: Maurice R. Hilleman (1919−2005) p1083
Reinhard Kurth

Research highlights p1084

Brief Communications
Nanotechnology: High-speed integrated nanowire circuits p1085
Inexpensive sophisticated circuitry can be 'painted' on to plastic or glass substrates.
Robin S. Friedman, Michael C. McAlpine, David S. Ricketts, Donhee Ham and Charles M. Lieber

Earth science: Microseismicity data forecast rupture area p1086
Danijel Schorlemmer and Stefan Wiemer

Brief Communications Arising
Fisheries: Decline of Pacific tuna populations exaggerated? pE1
John Hampton, John R. Sibert, Pierre Kleiber, Mark N. Maunder and Shelton J. Harley

Fisheries: Decline of Pacific tuna populations exaggerated? pE2
Ransom A. Myers and Boris Worm

Articles
Reduced sleep in Drosophila Shaker mutants p1087
Chiara Cirelli, Daniel Bushey, Sean Hill, Reto Huber, Robert Kreber, Barry Ganetzky and Giulio Tononi

Massive infection and loss of memory CD4+ T cells in multiple tissues during acute SIV infection
p1093
Joseph J. Mattapallil, Daniel C. Douek, Brenna Hill, Yoshiaki Nishimura, Malcolm Martin and Mario Roederer

An exceptionally bright flare from SGR 1806−20 and the origins of short-duration -ray bursts
p1098
K. Hurley, S. E. Boggs, D. M. Smith, R. C. Duncan, R. Lin, A. Zoglauer, S. Krucker, G. Hurford, H. Hudson, C. Wigger,
W. Hajdas, C. Thompson, I. Mitrofanov, A. Sanin, W. Boynton, C. Fellows, A. von Kienlin, G. Lichti, A. Rau and T.
Cline

II
Letters to Nature
An expanding radio nebula produced by a giant flare from the magnetar SGR 1806−20 p1104
B. M. Gaensler, C. Kouveliotou, J. D. Gelfand, G. B. Taylor, D. Eichler, R. A. M. J. Wijers, J. Granot, E. Ramirez-Ruiz,
Y. E. Lyubarsky, R. W. Hunstead, D. Campbell-Wilson, A. J. van der Horst, M. A. McLaughlin, R. P. Fender, M. A.
Garrett, K. J. Newton-McGee, D. M. Palmer, N. Gehrels and P. M. Woods

A giant -ray flare from the magnetar SGR 1806−20 p1107
D. M. Palmer, S. Barthelmy, N. Gehrels, R. M. Kippen, T. Cayton, C. Kouveliotou, D. Eichler, R. A. M. J. Wijers, P. M.
Woods, J. Granot, Y. E. Lyubarsky, E. Ramirez-Ruiz, L. Barbier, M. Chester, J. Cummings, E. E. Fenimore, M. H.
Finger, B. M. Gaensler, D. Hullinger, H. Krimm, C. B. Markwardt, J. A. Nousek, A. Parsons, S. Patel, T. Sakamoto, G.
Sato, M. Suzuki and J. Tueller

Repeated injections of energy in the first 600 ms of the giant flare of SGR 1806−20 p1110
Toshio Terasawa, Yasuyuki T. Tanaka, Yasuhiro Takei, Nobuyuki Kawai, Atsumasa Yoshida, Ken'ichi Nomoto, Ichiro
Yoshikawa, Yoshifumi Saito, Yasumasa Kasaba, Takeshi Takashima, Toshifumi Mukai, Hirotomo Noda, Toshio
Murakami, Kyoko Watanabe, Yasushi Muraki, Takaaki Yokoyama and Masahiro Hoshino

Detection of a radio counterpart to the 27 December 2004 giant flare from SGR 1806−20 p1112
P. B. Cameron, P. Chandra, A. Ray, S. R. Kulkarni, D. A. Frail, M. H. Wieringa, E. Nakar, E. S. Phinney, Atsushi
Miyazaki, Masato Tsuboi, Sachiko Okumura, N. Kawai, K. M. Menten and F. Bertoldi

Observation of nuclear fusion driven by a pyroelectric crystal p1115
B. Naranjo, J.K. Gimzewski and S. Putterman

Increased productivity in the subantarctic ocean during Heinrich events p1118
Julian P. Sachs and Robert F. Anderson

Electronic tagging and population structure of Atlantic bluefin tuna p1121
Barbara A. Block, Steven L. H. Teo, Andreas Walli, Andre Boustany, Michael J. W. Stokesbury, Charles J. Farwell,
Kevin C. Weng, Heidi Dewar and Thomas D. Williams

Learned kin recognition cues in a social bird p1127
Stuart P. Sharp, Andrew McGowan, Matthew J. Wood and Ben J. Hatchwell

A synthetic multicellular system for programmed pattern formation p1130
Subhayu Basu, Yoram Gerchman, Cynthia H. Collins, Frances H. Arnold and Ron Weiss

Dynamics of Drosophila embryonic patterning network perturbed in space and time using
microfluidics p1134
Elena M. Lucchetta, Ji Hwan Lee, Lydia A. Fu, Nipam H. Patel and Rustem F. Ismagilov

IKK limits macrophage NF- B activation and contributes to the resolution of inflammation p1138
Toby Lawrence, Magali Bebien, George Y. Liu, Victor Nizet and Michael Karin

A unique clonal JAK2 mutation leading to constitutive signalling causes polycythaemia vera p1144
Chloé James, Valérie Ugo, Jean-Pierre Le Couédic, Judith Staerk, François Delhommeau, Catherine Lacout, Loïc
Garçon, Hana Raslova, Roland Berger, Annelise Bennaceur-Griscelli, Jean Luc Villeval, Stefan N. Constantinescu,
Nicole Casadevall and William Vainchenker

Peak SIV replication in resting memory CD4+ T cells depletes gut lamina propria CD4+ T cells p1148
Qingsheng Li, Lijie Duan, Jacob D. Estes, Zhong-Min Ma, Tracy Rourke, Yichuan Wang, Cavan Reilly, John Carlis,
Christopher J. Miller and Ashley T. Haase

Clathrin is required for the function of the mitotic spindle p1152
Stephen J. Royle, Nicholas A. Bright and Leon Lagnado

Naturejobs
A question of age p1159
Paul Smaglik

Thinking big Texas p1160
Diane Gershon

Graduate Journal: Leaving the family p1162
Jason Underwood

Scientists & Societies p1162
Geoff Davis

Movers p1162

Futures
The Affinities p1164
Be careful how you describe yourself.
Robert Charles Wilson
III
28.4 Editorial 1053 MH 26/4/05 2:25 pm Page 1053
28 April 2005 Volume 434Issue no 7037
Dealing with design
The idea of intelligent design is being promoted in schools and universities in the United States and Europe. Rather than
ignoring it, scientists need to understand its appeal and help students recognize the alternatives.
Scientists tend to tune out when they hear the words ‘intelli- tend to be well attended,but don’t change many minds.Furthermore,
gent design’.The concept,which endeavours to show God’s ill-prepared scientific lectures can sometimes lack the superficial
hand shaping the course ofevolution,is being promoted in impact ofdesign advocates’carefully crafted talking points.
parts ofEurope and,more significantly,has recently become popu- Scientists know that natural selection can explain the awe-inspiring
lar among Christian fundamentalists who want religion taught in complexities oforganisms,and should be prepared to explain how.
US secondary schools.To most researchers it sounds like politics But attacking or dismissing intelligent design is likely to aggravate
rather than science,and like someone else’s problem. the rift between science and faith that causes students to become
Mixing as it does the supernatural with scientific doctrine,the interested in intelligent design in the first place.
concept is a throwback to the days when natural philosophers pur- Scientists would do better to offer some constructive thoughts of
sued pseudoscientific disciplines such as alchemy.But the scientific their own.For religious scientists,this may involve taking the time to
community should not ignore it.As the article on page 1062 reveals, talk to students about how they personally reconcile their beliefs with
the concept is gaining popularity on US college campuses. their research.Secular researchers should talk to others in order to
That is because many of the students taught in introductory understand how faiths have come to terms with science.All scientists
biology classes hold religious beliefs that conflict, at least on the whose classes are faced with such concerns should familiarize them-
face ofthings,with Darwin’s framework.Professors rarely address selves with some basic arguments as to why evolution,cosmology
the conflicts between faith and science in lectures,and students are and geology are not competing with religion.When they walk into
drawnto intelligent design as a way ofreconciling their beliefs with the lecture hall,they should be prepared to talk about what science
their interest in science.In doing so,they are helping it to gain a can and cannot do,and how it fits in with different religious beliefs.
small,but firm,foothold on campuses around the country. Some will be troubled by the suggestion that they discuss these
This is bad news for researchers.Unlike ‘creation science’,which issues in the classroom.Indeed,it is not the job ofa science teacher to
uses the Bible as its guide,intelligent design tries to use scientific meddle with the way their students are brought up or to attack their
methods to find evidence ofGod in nature.This approach makes it core personal beliefs.Rather,the goal should be to point to options
less theologically heavy-handed than its predecessor,but it also poses other than intelligent design for reconciling science and belief.
a threat to the very core of scientific reason.Most contemporary Even ifthey manage to sway just a few students,researchers in
researchers believe that it is better to keep science and theology firmly the United States can have a disproportionate effect on the national
separated.Most theologians would agree:intelligent design is not a debate over science in the classroom.Students often return to their
part ofCatholic doctrine,for example. home communities and become teachers,doctors and engineers.It is
So what can scientists do to counter the appeal of intelligent as local community leaders that those students will become invalu-
design?The concept’s advocates frequently approach researchers with able allies when more conservative religious groups try to halt the
offers ofcampus-wide ‘Darwin versus design’debates.Such events teaching ofscientific theories in schools. ■
New accountability in China
A Chinese funding agency has a new constitution, supporting better selection. Will it spread?
Anew constitution implemented earlier this month by the This is all well and good,but the NSFC already has a reputation
National Natural Science Foundation ofChina (NSFC) shows for fair funding.Scientists’main complaint with its grants has been
a penchant for transparent and accountable governance. that the money is too small to pack a punch.In 2004,it handed out
Those who drafted it say it will establish norms and a code ofcon- 2.8 billion yuan (US$340 million),a 25% rise over 2003 but still only
duct to regulate the foundation’s work in a democratic fashion,to 1.3% ofChina’s total research and development spending.This money
establish management based on the law,and to ensuretheeffective was spread over some 8,300 projects.
use of funds.It is aimed,as senior NSFC policy-maker Liu Zuoyi Nevertheless,this is a positive step that could make China seem a
put it,at “utilizing overseas brainpower and encouraging overseas more comfortable place for the returning scientists on whom the
scientists to participate in China’s basic research”in a “rigorous way”. country rests so much ofits hopes.But the NSFC’s constitution also
To draft the constitution,the NSFC studied about 20 legislative points to deep problems in other parts ofthe Chinese funding system.
documents worldwide, such as the Australian Research Council Its impact depends on how well it can inspire other organizations —
Act.According to Liu,the constitution guarantees the fairness of in particular the Ministry ofScience and Technology and the Chinese
funding opportunities by setting out “standards in selecting experts Academy ofSciences,which account for the lion’s share ofresearch
for peer and panel reviews”and “requirements for the management funding and hence hold the corresponding responsibilityfor China’s
ofprogrammes and results”.Failure in such endeavours has been a scientific future — to take steps to improve the fair and effective
long-standing complaint ofscientists in China and those thinking of deployment of their money.Will such organizations take up the
returning to the country. challenge and follow the NSFC’s lead? ■
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news
Great divide Taking care Unmasked Paper trail
Ecologists play Common infections Global warming is Intel pays $10,000
tag with tuna cause leukaemia culprit behind Japan’s for original article
across the Atlantic in toddlers soaring hay fever on Moore’s law
p1056 p1058 p1059 p1061
Turkish government accused of
hijacking boosted science budget
Tamara Grüner,Munich ES
G
The government ofTurkey is wresting con- MA
trol of the country’s main research council TY I
T
for political ends. That’s the accusation of GE
P/
prominent Turkish scientists who fear that AF
R/
recent appointments and legal changes are E
Z
O
attempts to channel a growing science bud- M.
get towards the government’s supporters.
This week,parliament is considering the
government’s second attempt to increase its
control over TÜBITAK,Turkey’s main sci-
ence funding body.The government made its
first attempt in 2003,but the law it forced
through was later overturned by the coun-
try’s highest court.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
recently tripled the council’s budget to
$300million,as part ofTurkey’s negotiations
for membership ofthe European Union.But Prime Minister Erdogan has poured money into Turkish science,but may have jeopardized its autonomy.
it is clear that he would like more control over
how the money is spent. get Erdogan’s appointments annulled. Pak States, governments appoint the officials
TÜBITAK,set up in 1963 as an indepen- accuses the government of sacrificing who run the institutes that distribute public
dent organization, has an executive board TÜBITAK’s scientific independence: “It science funding.But decisions about where
that elects new members, who are then changed the law to stop my return,”he says. the money goes are generally supported by
appointed by the prime minister.The board Turkey’s scientific community has been a robust system ofpeer review.
also elects a president,who must be endorsed left in disarray.Several directors ofresearch Many scientists in Turkey fear the new law
by the president of the republic, currently institutes have resigned or been dismissed, will mean that projects get funding because of
Ahmet Necdet Sezer. including Naci Görür, the director of the political considerations rather than scientific
The trouble started in 2003,when Erdo- main research facility operated by TÜBITAK, merit.“This would mean the end ofindepen-
gan refused to endorse the appointment of the Marmara Research Centre. They have dent scientific research,”says Sengor.
six new TÜBITAK board members.He also been replaced by government appointees. But Ömer Anlagan, a vice-president of
refused to pass on to Sezer the board’s recom- TÜBITAKand a mechanical engineer at the
mendation that its president, physicist Legal confusion Middle East Technical University in Ankara,
Namik Kemal Pak,should be appointed for a With the rejection of the 2003 law, denies that TÜBITAK’s autonomy is under
second term.The right-leaning Erdogan and TÜBITAK’s legal status has become unclear. threat:“On the contrary,it will be much bet-
the more left-wing Sezer clashed over the Some TÜBITAK-funded researchers have ter.”He argues that the government’s moves
issue and the government quickly passed a already been excluded from international were necessary to get rid ofcronyism.“The
law allowing it to appoint unelected members projects after collaborators were advised by old board members always selected the same
and to name the board’s president. lawyers not to get involved, according to people.”He also denies that the new board
It then appointed six members and an act- Celal Sengor,a geologist at Istanbul Techni- members are underqualified.“Some ofthem
ing president,engineer Nuket Yetis ofMar- cal University who currently holds the are from top universities,”he says.
mara University in Istanbul.The new arrivals international chair ofthe Collège de France. Board member Abdullah Atalar,an electri-
were not welcome: four vice-presidents “What has happened to TÜBITAKis a scan- cal engineer from the University of Bilkent,
resigned, saying that TÜBITAK had been dal of unprecedented proportion and an is enthusiastic about TÜBITAK funding.“We
“taken under political control”.And several affront to science,”he says. have given 200 young scientists annual grants
scientists complained that the new board To resolve the body’s status,the govern- of $100,000,”he says.“That has never hap-
members were not sufficiently qualified. ment needs to change the law.Last week,it pened before in TÜBITAK’s history.” But
The main opposition party challenged the proposed a law that would divide control of fellow member Sevket Ruacan is uneasy:“It is
law in the Supreme Constitutional Court,and board appointments equally between the not certain what the criteria for support were.”
won in January last year.But Pak and several government and independent organizations. A decision on the proposed law is
colleagues are still involved in legal battles to In many countries,including the United expected in the next fortnight. ■
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RSL
O
V
E
K
C
Y
R
N
VA
G.
Size matters:unequal fishery quotas may
be endangering the giant bluefin tuna.
Satellite tags give fresh angle on tuna quota
Rex Dalton fornia,and her colleagues caught and tagged and each returns to the spawning ground
The migration patterns of giant Atlantic nearly 800 bluefin tuna.Global positioning from which it came.Crucially,the researchers
bluefin tuna have been unravelled through data doesn’t work when the fish are on deep also find that the two populations merge
satellite tagging — and the results suggest dives,so the tags also collected detailed infor- when foraging in the open ocean,feeding on
that policies for managing the overfished mation such as light level and water tempera- both sides ofICCAT’s line.This means that
species require an urgent rethink. ture, which enabled researchers to piece fish from more fragile western stocks are
Bluefin are huge marine predators that together the course of each fish.Data were being caught as part ofthe larger quotas in
can weigh up to 650 kilograms and are prized beamed back to a satellite,or retrieved after the east.
for their flesh.They are the most valuable fish the fish was caught (the team offered a $1,000 The researchers further showed that
in the ocean — in Japan,single fish can com- reward for each one returned). longline fishermen hunting the smaller and
mand prices ofup to US$100,000.In recent Using the data from the tags,Block and more abundant yellowfin tuna (Thunnus
decades,fishing boats have scrambled to catch her colleagues confirm that there are two sep- albacares) in the GulfofMexico are probably
as many as possible by trap,net,harpoon or arate populations ofbluefin in the Atlantic, having a devastating effect on spawning
long line,and as a result bluefin numbers have
fallen by 80% or more since 1970. Bayou fleet brings bluefin blues
Atlantic bluefin (Thunnus thynnus) have
two spawning grounds — the GulfofMexico Along the Louisiana coast, where bayous outside inquiry. They go to sea for two weeks at
and the Mediterranean.The gulfis the more provide countless routes to the open water of a time, continuously setting their long lines.
heavily fished,so it is given greater protec- the Gulf of Mexico, a small fishing fleet is doing Quotas for bluefin are set very low. However,
tion by the International Commission for great harm to a giant of the sea. that doesn’t really make any difference — even
the Conservation ofAtlantic Tunas (ICCAT), Maybe 50 vessels steam out though the if extra bluefin are thrown back straight away
based in Madrid,Spain,which manages tuna mists from a handful of tiny ports to string their they always die, probably due to the stress
stocks in international waters.ICCAT has set hooks across the waters of the continental shelf of being dragged to the surface in these
bluefin fishing quotas based on an imaginary in the northern reaches of the gulf. They are temperate waters.
line down the middle ofthe Atlantic:fisher- seeking the abundant yellowfin tuna that school Interviews with the fishermen, as well as fish
men are allowed to catch 32,000 tonnes of there nearly all year round. But from April to buyers and US officials, indicate that one or two
bluefin a year to the east ofthe line,but only June the same patch of sea plays host to rare bluefin are killed for every line set. There are
3,000 tonnes to the west. bluefin tuna, which migrate there to spawn. Most even tales of a single line catching ten of the
Scientists and conservationists have long bluefin never reach breeding age, which takes mammoth creatures.
been concerned about this policy, because around a decade, so catching bluefin at a Tung Nguyen (pictured) has just docked his
they suspect that fish cross the dividing line spawning ground increases the loss of potential boat, Peaceful Lady. He says he has no bluefin
when feeding in the open ocean.But until offspring. And this makes the endangered aboard, only the 43 yellowfin he caught during
recently they had no way to prove it. species more vulnerable. his two-week trip. But he admits he does
Now,a tagging study published in Nature Dulac is a typical Louisiana fishing town. sometimes catch bluefin in the spring, and
(see page 1121) provides detailed informa- Almost all the boats are owned by Vietnamese they weigh anything from 250 to 500 kilograms.
tion about bluefin movements.Getting these fishermen, many of them refugees, and they He says the fish are spawning — he notices
data wasn’t easy. Over a nine-year period, form a cloistered community that is wary of the plump, ripe ovaries of the big females
Barbara Block ofStanford University,Cali-
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Physicists look to
crystal device for
future of fusion
Mark Peplow,London
Seth Putterman is usually on the side of
the sceptics when it comes to tabletop
fusion.But now he has created a device
that may convince researchers to change
Fishing for complements:the International Commission for the Conservation ofAtlantic Tunas divides their minds about the ‘f-word’.
bluefin stocks into east and west populations,but there is now evidence that they mix while foraging. Tabletop fusion has been a touchy
subject since Stanley Pons and Martin
bluefin (see ‘Bayou fleet brings bluefin methods mean that what was simply a matter Fleischmann said in 1989 that they
blues’).Although there have been reports of ofconjecture is becoming visible to us.” had achieved ‘cold fusion’at room
bluefin being caught accidentally in the area, “It means we need to rethink bluefin temperature.Putterman helped to
it has been hard for scientists to gauge the management for the entire Atlantic,”adds discredit this claim,as well as more
scale ofthe problem. Paolo Guglielmi,a Rome-based biologist for recent reports of‘bubble fusion’.
Block’s team combined their location the conservation group WWF. Now Putterman,a physicist at the
data on the bluefin in the gulfwith informa- The NMFS,which controls fishing prac- University ofCalifornia,Los Angeles,
tion from the Maryland-based National tices for much of the bluefin’s spawning has turned a tiny crystal into a particle
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on the grounds in the northern GulfofMexico,was accelerator.When its electric field is
movements offishing boats.They show that a part-funder ofBlock’s study and will use the focused by a tungsten needle,it fires
the boats are dropping their lines in areas research to revise quotas for bluefin and other deuterium ions into a target so fast that
where bluefin gather. migratory Atlantic fish.“We are taking a fresh the colliding nuclei fuse to create a
Block hopes the tagging data will be used look,”says NMFS economist Rebecca Lent. stream ofneutrons.
to set policies that will protect the fish better. “We welcome this scientific information.” Putterman is not claiming to have
“Ifwe don’t do something,bluefin stocks will It is less clear whether ICCAT will change created a source ofvirtually unlimited
collapse,”she says.Block suggests dividing its policies when it sets new bluefin quotas energy,because the reaction isn’t self-
the Atlantic into more than two quota zones, next year.ICCAT officials met in Fukuoka, sustaining.But until now,achieving any
and she wants longline fishing banned in Japan,from 20 to 23 April to discuss manage- kind offusion in the lab has required
certain parts of the Gulf of Mexico during ment strategies for tuna and other migratory bulky accelerators with large electricity
the bluefin spawning season. species.The meeting was partly sparked by supplies.Replacing that with a small
In the past,ICCAT has seemed reluctant Block’s preliminary data, which were pre- crystal is revolutionary.“The amazing
to alter its policy,citing the need for more sented last May in Marseilles,France. thing is that the crystal can be used as an
accurate accounts offish movements.Scien- Officials have declined to discuss the accelerator without plugging it in to a
tists and conservationists alike hope that this outcome ofthe meeting.But ICCAT’s chair- power station,”says Putterman.
study will fit the bill.“This is a very powerful man,Masanori Miyahara,cautions that the Putterman got the idea when he
paper,” says John Magnuson, an ecologist tagging data should be combined with stud- delivered a lecture on sonoluminescence
at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, ies ofbluefin ovaries to pin down precisely and energy focusing at the Georgia
who has studied bluefin stocks.“New tagging when and where the fish are spawning. ■ Institute ofTechnology,Atlanta.Physicist
Ahmet Erbil suggested that Putterman
N should instead consider ferroelectricity.
O
ALT “Here’s someone telling me in front
D
R. of100 people that I’m working on the
wrong thing,”recalls Putterman.But the
comment got him started on his fusion
reactor.The result is published in this
week’s Nature(see page 1115).
Will he be able to avoid the
controversy that has dogged other fusion
claims? “My first reaction when I saw the
paper was ‘oh no,not another tabletop
fusion paper’,”says Mike Saltmarsh,an
when he cleans them for market. acclaimed neutron hunter who was called
Barbara Block of Stanford University, in to resolve the dispute over bubble
California, and her colleagues have provided the fusion.“But they’ve built a neat little
best data so far on the potential impact of the accelerator.I’m pretty sure no one has
fishery here. They will continue to monitor the been able to generate neutrons in this
fish they have tagged, and as the spawning way before.”
season begins off Louisiana, researchers around Putterman himselfisn’t worried.“If
the Atlantic will be watching with more interest people think this is a crackpot paper
than ever. Peaceful Lady, and vessels like her, that’s just fine,”he says.“We’re right.
may find that new political forces buffet future Any scientist who says this is too
trips to sea. Rex Dalton,Dulac wonderful to believe is welcome to
reproduce the experiments.” ■
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28.4 News 1058 MH 26/4/05 2:52 pm Page 1058
news
US experts draw A
B
A
up guidelines for BIS S
R
O
C
Y/
stem-cell research N
N
A
E
F
N.
Erika Check,Washington
US stem-cell research needs a coherent
set ofrules,according to experts from
the National Academy ofSciences.
Every institution working with human
embryonic stem cells should create a
committee to oversee the research,says
the panel,which also recommends that
some experiments should be banned.
“We think it’s very important that
everyone who’s doing this work is
operating in the same spirit,and with the
same conditions oftransparency and
care,”says bioethicist Jonathan Moreno
ofthe University ofVirginia in Safety in numbers:children who go to day care early in life are less likely to develop leukaemia.
Charlottesville,who co-chaired the
panel.At present,much research on Link to infection raises hope
human embryonic stem cells in the
United States is funded from private
of preventing child leukaemia
sources,placing it largely beyond the
reach offederal regulations.
In its 26 April report,the panel says
that committees should conduct different Roxanne Khamsi,London ject to convince researchers that there really
levels ofreview for various stem-cell It is finally possible to identify the environ- is a significant link.To do this,epidemiolo-
experiments,according to the ethical mental factors responsible for childhood gist Eve Roman of the University of York
challenges they pose.“We decided to set leukaemia, researchers told a meeting in and her team analysed data on children’s
up categories to give guidance as to how London last week. Now it’s time to think day-care attendance.
to think about these things,”says panel about how to prevent the disease,they said. Records from East Germany had hinted
co-chair Richard Hynes,a cell biologist Exposure to radiation, chemicals and that infants sent to playgroups from the age
at the Massachusetts Institute of power lines are not a significant cause,the of three months were less likely to contract
Technology in Cambridge. meeting heard. In fact, most cases are leukaemia.So Roman’s team set out to test
For instance,to study cell caused by common infections in toddlers. whether exposure to infections very early in
development,some scientists want to Leukaemia causes the production of life could somehow train the immune system
inject human embryonic stem cells into abnormal white blood cells, and accounts to protect against the cancer.
other species’blastocysts — embryos just for a third of cancers in children. Some They focused on acute lymphoblastic
a few days old that consist ofa hollow genetic predisposition is involved, but for leukaemia,a common form of the disease
ball ofcells (see Nature431,885;2004). decades scientists have been trying to iden- that usually strikes between the ages oftwo
The panel argues that such proposals tify what triggers the disease. and five — the time most children start
would require thorough review and that The biggest effort is the United King- going to playgroups.The team found that
experiments with blastocysts from dom Childhood Cancer Study, set up in children who attended day care during
primates should be banned because of 1991. It compiled information from more the first three months of life had half
the danger that the ‘chimaera’produced than 10,000 children,including some 1,700 the normal risk of developing the disease
could develop to term.“Some things with leukaemia. (C.Gilham et al.Br.Med.J.doi:10.1136/bmj.
should not be done because they cross Researchers from the project met last 38428.521042.8F;2005).
ethical lines,”says Hynes. week to discuss the results.They were agreed Attention is now turning to how to pre-
The panel wants at a local level what on the role ofchemicals and radiation.“Per- vent leukaemia.Encouraging parents to send
some other countries have on a national ceived risk factors such as living near sources their children to playgroups early in life is
basis.Australia,Britain and Canada have of electromagnetic fields or natural radia- one obvious option. Identifying the infec-
set up national committees to regulate tion are not principal causes, if at all, of tions responsible also raises the possibility of
stem-cell research.And in 2002, leukaemia in children,”says Mel Greaves of developing protective vaccines. Greaves
Singapore’s Bioethics Advisory the Institute ofCancer Research in London. notes that US and Finnish studies have sug-
Committee recommended that its Infections,on the other hand,induce a gested that the Hib vaccine against meningi-
government do the same. proliferation of white blood cells in bone tis also helps to protect against leukaemia.
In the absence offederal guidelines, marrow as part of the normal immune Charles Stiller, a cancer epidemiologist
it seems the panel’s recommendations response. In children genetically predis- at the University of Oxford,UK,is excited
provide a reasonable blueprint.“I hope posed to leukaemia, the researchers think about the shift but cautions against getting
they can help us move forward and that infection might cause an uncontrolled too carried away.“It’s difficult to know what
establish the field,”says Leonard Zon of proliferation ofcells,leading to cancer. proportion of cases is accounted for by
the Children’s Hospital Boston,current Although several studies have hinted infections,”he says.“And there is more to be
president ofthe International Society for that infection could be a cause,it has taken done on defining the mechanisms by which
Stem Cell Research. ■ the size and statistical power ofthe UK pro- this might work.” ■
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28.4 News 1059 MH 26/4/05 10:25 am Page 1059
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Climate change blamed for rise in hay fever
Rachael Williams,Tokyo will continue to intensify what is already a OS
N
Spare a thought for Japan’s myriad hay-fever serious health problem in Japan,”he says. A
P
sufferers as they endure the highest pollen Many agree with Murayama’s findings. ESS/
N
levels on record this spring.Global warming “It’s common sense,”says Atsushi Ueda,an O
B
seems at least partly to blame and most allergy specialist at Kumamoto University. S.
experts agree that the worst is yet to come. Ueda adds that higher levels ofcarbon diox-
Hay fever in Japan is more punishing than ide and diesel-exhaust particles can also
that triggered by weed pollen,which occurs worsen the body’s response to pollen.
in much ofthe rest ofthe world.It is caused But other scientists argue that economic
by an allergic reaction to cedar and cypress factors may be to blame. Yoko Fukuda, a
pollen.Severe symptoms and the spread of researcher at Japan’s Forestry Agency,points
pollen over wide distances is forcing thou- to the decline in domestic forest industries,
sands ofpeople,even in urban areas,to don which has left the cedar and cypress planta-
protective masks and glasses. tions unmaintained. “Such neglect has
There are about 7 million hectares of allowed the trees to mature to their prime
cypress and cedar plantations in Japan. In pollen-producing age,”he explains.
Tokyo alone,about a quarter ofthe popula- To comfort the hoards of sufferers,the
tion is suffering from hay fever.And accord- Forest Tree Breeding Center is working on
ing to government surveys the number is a plan to replace all the offending trees
steadily rising. with pollen-free cypress and cedar. But
Kouji Murayama, a researcher at the this could take decades,and political support
Japan Meteorological Business Support is still uncertain,says project leader Makoto
Center in Tokyo,believes that the culprit is Takahashi.
global warming. He points to studies that Fever pitch:many Japanese need protective masks Despite the difficulties, scientists are
show a clear link between summer tempera- to help them fend offthe effects oftree pollen. determined to find ways to improve the situa-
tures and the amount ofpollen produced the tion — and to ease their own symptoms.
following spring.Such data already provide is set to rise by up to 3.5 (cid:1)C by the end of Murayama’s research was first motivated by
the basis for pollen forecasts. this century. his wife’s hay fever.But after conducting stud-
Tokyo’s average yearly temperature has Based on this forecast, Murayama pre- ies in the forests,he has experienced the prob-
increased by 3 (cid:1)C since 1890 and,according to dicts that the number ofhay-fever sufferers in lem first hand.“I can now tell you all about the
the Japan Meteorological Agency in Tokyo, Japan will rise 40% by 2050.“Global warming miseries ofpollen allergies,”he says. ■
Corporate culture nets big bucks for university heads
Emma Marris,Washington University ofKansas in Lawrence,has been P
Salaries at US PhD-granting universities AU
A growing tendency for US universities following the salary trends for several years. A
to embrace private-sector attitudes is He says that a dip in federal and state funding CES/
uthned ceorumnitnriyn’sg pthroe fseyssstoerms.,Msaayn my caanmy opfus 1,000)320500 PPrreosfeidsesnort icso fmorpcainnige us.nHivee wrsoitrireise sto t haactt tmhoe rhei glihk esalaries M.RESOUR
presidents are now paid as ifthey were $ will attract “people who are willing to sell out U
S200 H
caocardpeomraitces c shaiye ftheaxte cthuitsi vies sr e—w aarnddin sgo mthee ary (U150 wbehcaatu as eu tnhiveyer asritey m iso sruep mpootsievda tteod s tbayn md ofonrey”. ASSOC.
wftohrreo Aupnn agrsie tvtcy edeprnesecti o taryfde pplee,roawerdsthei hdresarehensai trpsse. pvheaaayvl eep dsah ctkoheta tuts ps fa oolravreires Average sal150000 c“MoTemhlBaepun detinee om sCtahaoteinrorrdnsis g s foaaoynfr t,tahahn eap itjon otlchbirce aey war aesan iegnaxeglpysl yasat nrt aoedt uif ntaghighre,” josaby.s AL PROFESSION
professors have barely kept pace with 1993–94 2003–04 American Council on Education in NIV.
U
inflation (see graph,right). Johns Hopkins University’s president, Washington DC.“A president is a cross GE
E
John Curtis,director ofresearch at William Brody,was the most highly paid between a chiefexecutive ofa large OLL
the American Association ofUniversity president in 2003,according to a survey in corporation and a small-city mayor.” C
E:
Professors (AAUP) in Washington DC, The Chronicle ofHigher Education,earning Pierotti says that the trend won’t be RC
U
discovered the extent ofthe disparity when just over $590,000. reversed unless there is an influx ofcash SO
he compared figures from the AAUP’s annual Curtis sees the growing gap as a “move from government sources.But this may be
salary survey with presidential salary data towards the more corporate style of far off— state and federal budgets are under
from the College and University Professional management”,with universities paying high pressure and are likely to remain tight for
Association for Human Resources. salaries for ruthless cost-cutting leadership. the foreseeable future.Meanwhile,Pierotti
The average professor at a PhD-granting This is the wrong model,he argues,because warns that the bottom line is beginning to
university earned about $100,700 in 2003–04, universities are not run to make affect professors as well.“Faculty members
he says,whereas the average president got shareholders rich,but to educate students are assessed not only on the quality oftheir
$270,000.The difference is especially and benefit society. teaching or even their research,but on how
pronounced at private institutions,he adds. Raymond Pierotti,a biologist at the fundable their research is,”he says. ■
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