Updates to the zoonotic niche map of Ebola virus disease in Africa by David Pigott et al. Though the West African Ebola outbreak that began in 2013 is now under control, 23 countries remain environmentally suitable for animal-to-human transmission of the Ebola virus. Only seven of these countries have experienced cases of Ebola, leaving the remaining 16 countries potentially unaware of regions of suitability, and therefore underprepared for future outbreaks.

Dr. Gang Zheng and a team of biomedical researchers have discovered a "smart" organic, biodegradable nanoparticle that uses heat and light in a controlled manner to potentially target and ablate tumours with greater precision.

Atomic force microscopy image of the pore. The best hiding place often lies behind enemy lines, as many bacteria such as the pathogens responsible for tuberculosis or typhoid have realized. They invade immune cells and can survive there, well hidden, for some time. To eliminate such invaders, the host macrophages can initiate a suicide program. Together with researchers at the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research and ETH Zurich, the team led by Prof. Sebastian Hiller from the Biozentrum at the University of Basel has shown for the first time that a "death protein" perforates the cell membrane, resulting in macrophage bursting open. The re-exposed pathogens can then again be fought by the immune system.