Monday, July 25, 2005

Our Immune system isn't just our weapon anymore

One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is how 'clever' bacteria are. I don't mean to imply they are smart in the way we are of course, but in the tricks and methods they use to survive in a wide variety of different conditions and habitates. In particular, bacteria are already known to undergo germ warfare, spitting toxic peptides and other compounds at one another in the race for just a little more living room. An additional trick it turns out is to have the hosts immune system destroy the bacteriums competitors for them.

The particular paper appears in PLoS Pathogens and best of all it's free if you're wanting to have a look. The littlest organisms on the planet never cease to be the most ingenious.