Cell

Determining the molecular workings of plant cells is now possible using a newly developed method

Brain cells called astrocytes secrete the S100B protein to modulate the network activity of neurons

Based on a ‘Future Alternative Fuel for Sustainability’ theme, two groups of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) students secured second place for Model Car Invention and poster production categories

In keeping with the theme of the meeting this year, ‘Our Planet and Its Life: Origins and Futures’, the RIKEN group that made presentations on their work included researchers doing cutting-edge work on environmental and life science-related topics.

Summaries of newsworthy papers include Link between cancer and dietary restriction, Was the Wenchuan quake an indicator of crustal shortening?, The smart way to beat hunger, Sorting senses in the fruitfly, Real time light–matter mix and A new super-battery!

Cells control interactions between two proteins with an important role in Alzheimer’s disease by stranding them on discrete membrane ‘islands’

In Nature China this week - Researchers have identified a key region of the avian influenza virus that is responsible for viral replication and transcription in the nucleus of infected cells

Summaries of newsworthy papers include Prehistoric sex, The missing asteroid mystery, Melding brain and machine, Unexpected prion link in Alzheimer’s disease, Atlantic seesaw, Friction on a small scale and Giant sand dune formation explained

Body-friendly nanomaterials; Childhood abuse permanently modifies stress genes; A human hand in Indonesian fires; HIV sweetly slips by; Jump-starting cancer-gene discovery; Imaging colour centres on the nanoscale; Aerosols and underlying clouds lead to warming; THz phase modulator and How your genes can make you fat

Summaries of newsworthy papers include Erasing fearful memories, Lighting up brain maps, Relicts of martian ice?, Common variants that regulate blood pressure, Nitrous oxide hot spots and Once a boggy plant, always a boggy plant?

Summaries of newsworthy papers include Going ape, Blood cell ‘birth’ caught on camera, Petite press breaks the mould and Gene influences stem cell fate, Should scientists study ‘race’ and IQ?

Using moss to remove heavy metal contaminants from water; X-ray charge density to directly observe chemical interactions at the molecular level; new fluorescent probes to discover unknown functions and potential in living things; iPS cells against cancer; Omics Science Centre and The X-Ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL)

The application of sophisticated imaging techniques illuminates spatio-temporal regulation critical for T cell activation

Unscrambling the link between molecular bonding and distributing pigment leads to potential therapeutics for a rare skin disease

Summaries of newsworthy papers include The earliest animal life, H5N1 structure reveals focus of viral replication, Failing the fish, Hyper-starburst spawned galaxy bulge, No man is an island, Radioresistance in cancer stem cells explained? and A long story about tropical temperatures

Summaries of newsworthy papers in Nature and Nature research journals including Genetics: Clue to gene-environment interaction in Parkinson's disease, Nature: Getting to know you and Genetics: Gene variant increases risk of essential tremor

Summaries of newsworthy papers include fMRI sees what monkeys will think next, Spring forwards, Cold streams formed early galaxies, Tinkering with light on a tiny scale and Print your own circuit?

In Nature China this week - Researchers in Hong Kong say there is no urgency for renal screening of people who were exposed to low doses of melamine

Synthetic genetic circuits enable researchers to uncover the mechanisms by which cells set their internal clocks

In Nature China this week - Neurodegenerative diseases: Root of spasm, Graphene: Carbon magnets, Cognitive neuroscience: Double training, Developmental neuroscience: Sheath netting

Summaries of newsworthy papers including Photonics: One-way photonic street, Genetics: Common mutation underlying epilepsy identified, Geoscience: Is the acceleration of Greenland’s glaciers short-lived?, Physics: Long-range quantum manipulation, and Nature: Natural killer cells never forget.

RIKEN researchers have produced healthy cloned mice from cells taken from bodies frozen for 16 years. Wakayama and his team are making a name for themselves by developing techniques that could help rescue life from unlikely sources.

A recently discovered protein works behind the scenes to confer much-needed stabilization to an essential developmental pathway

A receptor, induced on the surface of macrophages under stressful conditions, can detect tissue injury, stimulating inflammation and possibly repair, a RIKEN-led team of molecular biologists has discovered. Their work could provide new leads for anti-inflammatory drugs and healing.

Summaries of newsworthy papers include Arrestin’ insulin resistance and New mechanism for genetic hair loss

A unique model may describe the genetic switch that controls whether a T cell becomes a helper or a killer

New work by researchers from RIKEN in Japan has demonstrated the dynamic process of controlling stress responses in plants. To survive, plants must react quickly to environmental hazards such as drought, cold and salt.

Genes known as pubs have a negative effect on a plant’s immune system

Summaries of newsworthy papers include An engine for social change, Taking the rough with the smooth and Cancer stem cells leave their mark

The person who did more than any other to build the world's newest and most powerful particle accelerator is named as Nature's newsmaker of 2008 and Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy has revolutionized the field of molecular and cell biology.