Community Choice

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK

the synthesis of their protein products. Carla Green and her colleagues at the University of COMMUNITY The most viewed SAMUEL BECK Texas Southwestern Medical CHOICE papers in science Center in Dallas found 237 mouse-liver mRNAs that TAXONOMY show circadian rhythmicity in the number of adenosine Scarce cetaceans catalogued molecules added to the end of mRNAs. The length of this ✪ HIGHLY READ A paper titled “The world’s rarest whale” ‘poly(A) tail’ can affect the on www.cell.com documents the unprecedented beaching stability of the mRNA and, 16 Nov–16 Dec of two spade-toothed beaked whales Billy Krimmel at the ultimately, the amount of (Mesoplodon traversii). University of California, cognate protein produced. Members of this species, which haunt the deepest reaches Davis, and Ian Pearse at Further analysis of five of of the South Pacific Ocean, had been known from only a tiny Cornell University in Ithaca, these mRNAs showed that handful of bones and teeth. A mother and calf stranded in New York, report that sticky, peak poly(A) tail length 2010 are thought to be the first to be seen in the flesh. The hair-like trichomes on preceded a peak in protein adult was about five metres long and patterned in black, white common tarweed (Madia accumulation by 4–8 hours, and grey. Initially misidentified as Gray’s beaked whales elegans) trap small insects. even when the amount of (M. grayi), the rare animals were correctly identified thanks These may function as bait those mRNAs remained to DNA typing by Rochelle Constantine at the University of to attract predatory insects constant. Auckland in New Zealand and her co-authors. (pictured) that feast on Genes Dev. 26, 2724–2736 (2012) Curr. Biol. 22, R905–R906 (2012) caterpillars, which would damage the plant. MATERIALS The authors carried out a matched closely in time with CANCER field experiment in California, Grains call a halt acoustic fluctuations through and found that adding dead with sound the grain bed, suggesting that Clonal clues reveal fruitflies to plants increased acoustic waves play a key part cancer chaos the abundance of the predators Granular materials such as in dissipating the energy of that they surveyed by between sand may slow high-speed projectiles that strike granular The general assumption that 76% and 450%. Adding bait projectiles by turning kinetic materials. a tumour cell’s behaviour is also reduced bud damage from energy from an incoming Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 238302 guided largely by its DNA the most common caterpillar object into complex networks (2012) sequence may be incorrect. in the ecosystem by 60%, and of sound waves. John Dick at the University increased fruit production Abram Clark at Duke GEOLOGY of Toronto in Canada and by 10%. University in Durham, North his colleagues grew 150 cell Ecol. Lett. http://dx.doi. Carolina, and his colleagues Counting populations from individual, org/10.1111/ele.12032 (2012) studied the impact of bronze geoneutrinos labelled cancer cells taken disks falling onto a bed of from ten patient-derived GENETICS photoelastic grains — plastic Neutrinos are tiny, nearly colorectal-cancer samples. particles that light up under massless particles that are The researchers transplanted RNA tails time pressure. Filming at 40,000 generated by nuclear reactions these cells into mice, then protein production frames per second, the team and can fly unimpeded through tracked their genetics and found that falling disks even the thickest rock. Because behaviour as the grafts grew. A cell’s rhythm of protein pulsed acoustic energy along of these properties, geologists Tumour-cell clones from the production may be regulated branching networks of grains would like to use geoneutrinos same cell line differed widely by the addition and removal that glowed as pressure — electron antineutrinos in their growth patterns, of tails at the end of the travelled through the material emitted during the decay of ability to seed new tumours messenger RNA molecules (pictured). The ‘force chains’ natural radionuclides — to and response to the cancer that carry the protein recipes. decayed exponentially and estimate the heat generated drug oxaliplatin. The cellular circadian clock died out after passing through by radioactivity inside Earth’s The results suggest yields rhythmic patterns in the about 10 particles. Falling mantle. that factors beyond the

ABRAM CLARKE AND ROBERT BEHRINGER expression of many genes and disks decelerated in spurts that Ondřej Šrámek at the DNA sequence — such as University of Maryland differences in the chemical in College Park and his groups attached to it, which colleagues now present a plan influence gene expression, or for making measurements environmental influences — of these particles at two or shape tumour-cell conduct. more strategic points in the Science http://dx.doi.org/ Pacific Ocean to discriminate 10.1126/science.1227670 (2012) between different models of Earth’s mantle architecture. NATURE.COM Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. For the latest research published by http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ Nature visit: j.epsl.2012.11.001 (2012) www.nature.com/latestresearch