Scientists have discovered that a bone infection is caused by a newly described species of bacteria that is related to the tuberculosis pathogen. The discovery may help improve the diagnosis and treatment of similar infections, according to an article published in the October issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.

The green represents the beneficial bacterium Bacillus subtilis, which has formed a biofilm on the Arabidopsis root surface. Researchers at the University of Delaware have discovered that when the leaf of a plant is under attack by a pathogen, it can send out an S.O.S. to the roots for help, and the roots will respond by secreting an acid that brings beneficial bacteria to the rescue.

Researchers in Sweden are compiling a remarkable 'atlas' that pinpoints the location of thousands of individual proteins in the body's tissues and cells which will give scientists important insights into the function of different proteins and how changes in the distribution of proteins could be reflected in diseases such as cancer. Professor Mathias Uhlén of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, who is leading the project, said, "We are trying to map the building blocks of life."

Engineers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created a "plug-and-play" synthetic RNA device--a sort of eminently customizable biological computer--that is capable of taking in and responding to more than one biological or environmental signal at a time.

The first reports of the successful reprogramming of adult human cells back into so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which by all appearances looked and acted liked embryonic stem cells created a media stir. But the process was woefully inefficient: Only one out of 10,000 cells could be persuaded to turn back the clock.

A new proteomics project promises to revolutionize routine blood tests, vaccine development, cancer diagnostics, and many other important biomedical challenges.