Archive by category | NPG special content

Nature celebrates the astonishing variety of reactions to Darwin’s ideas

In honour of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, Nature is publishing a series on the global and astounding variety of reactions to the theory of evolution. People from Egypt to Japan used Darwin’s ideas to reinvent and reignite their core philosophies and religions, says Marwa Elshakry in the first of these four weekly pieces on how evolution was received around the world (Nature 461, 1200-1201; 2009). The start of the series is marked by an Editorial (Nature 461, 1173-1174; 2009) on the importance of cultural influences on science. “The lesson for today’s scientists and policy-makers is simple: they cannot assume that a public presented with ‘the facts’ will come to the same conclusion as themselves.  Read more

Free poster on the transcriptome at Nature Reviews Genetics

Nature Reviews Genetics presents a free poster, ‘The pervasive and interlinked transcriptome’, in its November 2009 issue. Our knowledge of the eukaryotic transcriptome is being transformed as we come to realize that the proportion of the genome that is transcribed is far greater than expected. New insights into the diversity of transcriptional products are rapidly emerging. Technological advances, such as RNA deep sequencing, are driving an increased knowledge of how transcripts are encoded in intricate and overlapping ways and are processed into myriad RNAs.  Read more

Nature special issue on human genetics

The flow of human genetic information is growing into a deluge: from high throughput sequencing to genome wide association studies to copy number variation to personal genetic tests. In today’s (8 October 2009) issue, Nature assesses their biological and medical value so far and asks – where should the field go next?  Read more

Nature Methods celebrates methods (and being 5)

Nature Methods is five years old. To celebrate this anniversary, the journal looks at methodological development and its role in scientific inquiry in its October Editorial, In celebration of methods (Nat. Meth. 6, 687; 2009) and a special focus of commentaries discussing the impact and progress of methodological developments in the life sciences. The focus also includes a fun selection of papers and covers from the past five years.  Read more

Nature Milestones in Light Microscopy

Nature Milestones in Light Microscopy is published today, 1 October 2009. Nature Milestones in Light Microscopy is a collaboration from Nature Methods, Nature Cell Biology and Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, focusing on ground-breaking advances in light microscopy research. The field of light microscopy has revolutionized our understanding of cell biology and is continuing as new imaging tools and techniques are developed. The Nature Milestones in Light Microscopy supplement contains a series of short articles, called Milestones, presenting key developments in the field, written by editors from the Nature Publishing Group. In addition, selected content from Nature Milestones in Light Microscopy are freely available online.  Read more

Nature Genetics focus on copy number variation

Individual genomes vary, not only in sequence, but in both their structural organization and in the number of sequence copies they contain. The technology now exists to understand the mechanisms by which genomes diverge, so we can investigate the consequences of copy number variation for gene expression and clinical phenotypes. This month (September), Nature Genetics presents a Focus of articles published in Nature and Nature Genetics, free to read online, on copy number variation, which highlights the complementary roles of paired-end sequencing and oligonucleotide array technology in research discovery.  Read more

Nature Reviews Neuroscience web focus on CNS evolution

Charles Darwin’s theory of descent with modification by means of natural selection has stood the test of time, with new discoveries in genetics and the mathematical basis of natural selection providing ever growing evidence for the theory. The October issue of Nature Reviews Neuroscience — contains an online focus, free to access online for six months from the issue date, celebrating the contribution of Darwin’s ideas to our current understanding of the evolution of the nervous system. The articles in this special issue discuss the molecular, cellular and structural changes that have contributed to CNS (central nervous system) evolution and their functional consequences. The focus consists of reviews and perspectives on:  … Read more

New NPG journal: Cell Death & Disease

Via press release: Nature Publishing Group (NPG) and the Associazione Differenziamento e Morte Cellulare (ADMC) have announced a new open access journal, Cell Death & Disease. Launching in January 2010, Cell Death & Disease will explore the area of cell death from a translational medicine perspective. The journal is now accepting submissions.  Read more

Data sharing discussed at Nature and Nature Network

Sharing data is good. But sharing your own data? That can get complicated. As two research communities who held meetings on this question in Rome and in Toronto in May report their proposals to promote data sharing in biology, a special issue of Nature (10 September 2009) examines the cultural and technical hurdles that can get in the way of good intentions. Some of the authors of these proposals are participating in two online forums (Rome and Toronto) at Nature Network – so please accept our invitation to visit and have your say on these questions.  Read more