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Gene editing can drive science to openness
The fast-moving field of gene-drive research provides an opportunity to rewrite the rules of the science, says Kevin Esvelt.
Lessons from researcher rehab
Common compliance situations can get good researchers into trouble, warn James M. DuBois and colleagues.
Lab Wars, a game of scientific sabotage
Two researchers today launch a game that captures this anarchic spirit. Board-game fans Caezar Al-Jassar, a postdoc at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK, and Kuly Heer, a clinical psychologist, have designed the card game Lab Wars to represent the scientific rat race, with extra sabotage.
Government slammed for losing track of its own research
Government can't say how many policy studies it paid for or published, report reveals.
Plan to synthesize human genome elicits mixed response
Some admire project's ambition; others say it hasn't justified its aims.
The developing world needs basic research too
The establishment of an agency in Indonesia that will support 'frontier research' is a welcome development, argues Dyna Rochmyaningsih.
Open-access journal eLife gets £25 million boost
Biology's big funders announce investment will continue to 2022.
Digital forensics: from the crime lab to the library
Archivists are borrowing and adapting techniques used in criminal investigations to access data and files created in now-obsolete systems.
Crunch time
Overtime pay for postdoctoral scientists is welcome — but could mean fewer positions.
1,500 scientists lift the lid on reproducibility
Survey sheds light on the ‘crisis’ rocking research.
Brain scans reveal how LSD affects consciousness
Drug researcher David Nutt discusses brain-imaging studies with hallucinogens and how he needed to crowdfund the resources to analyse the data.
Second thoughts: Nature Editorial
Revisiting the past can help to inform ideas of the present: science without consensus would be chaos. But the price of consensus is eternal vigilance against complacency, and a willingness to contemplate the road otherwise not travelled.
Twelve principles for open innovation 2.0
Evolve governance structures, practices and metrics to accelerate innovation in an era of digital connectivity, writes Martin Curley.
Scientific sceptics hit back after rebuke
A science writer challenges the sceptics community to move beyond tackling just ‘easy’ issues.
Open medicine
Governments need to tighten regulation if the sharing of clinical-trial data is to succeed.
Stressed students reach out for help
Graduate students struggling with the stresses of their work and lives can tap into multiple avenues of support.
Social-sciences preprint server snapped up by publishing giant Elsevier
The Social Science Research Network says that it will continue to offer free submissions and downloads under its new owner.
Engagement upgrade
The value that Australia places on publication quality over quantity has elevated it into the top echelon of science. Can it now improve its flagging track record in commercialization?
Q&A: Helga Nowotny
Austrian social scientist Helga Nowotny was president of the European Research Council between 2010 and 2013. Now a professor emerita of ETH Zurich and author of The Cunning of Uncertainty (Polity, 2015), Nowotny discusses the growing pressure to capitalize on academic research, and how countries can get it right in the absence of a universal recipe.
Nature Outlook on Innovation
In the fiercely competitive world of drug discovery and development, secrecy is no longer as important as it once was.
Crowdsourced solutions
Open competitions bring new minds, skills and collaborations to problems in biomedical research.
Row over proposed biomedical centre intensifies
Document submitted to the Italian Senate criticizes institute that will oversee a €1.5-billion project.
The pressure to publish pushes down quality
Scientists must publish less, or good research will be swamped by the ever-increasing volume of poor work.
Academic return
A broader understanding of 'impact' could help governments to measure the diverse benefits of their investment in research.
Set up a public registry of competing interests
The problem of bias in published research must be tackled in a consistent and comprehensive fashion, says Adam G. Dunn.