This is the trouble I have with most Nature papers - only subscribers have access. Since I'm not currently affiliated with any academic institution or other scientific organization, I can't read anything beyond news summaries or abstracts. Very disappointing.

You're right that Nature Genetics, like most other NPG journals, operates on a subscriber-pay rather than an author-pay business model. While I think good arguments can be made in support of either publishing model, I'm sure advocates on both sides of this debate would agree that it costs money to produce a top quality publication. Even discounting costs related e.g. to print and distribution, it would be impossible to produce the journal each month without a dedicated staff of copy editors, production editors, web editors, IT personnel, etc. While some of these staffing costs can be offset by selling advertising space (as is done under both business models), this revenue falls short of covering monthly publication costs. Selling subscriptions (institutional and personal) is one way to make up the difference. Charging authors a fee to publish their work is another. While the long-term sustainability of both models remains uncertain, we've decided to stick for now with the traditional subscriber-pay model. In the meantime, we hope the efforts of our professional staff continue to add sufficient value to the final product that our subscribers feel they're getting their money's worth.