Volume 22, Issue 5, Pages R142-R145 (March 2012) Fighting infections  Michael Gross  Current Biology  Volume 22, Issue 5, Pages R142-R145 (March 2012) DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.02.028 Copyright © 2012 Terms and Conditions

Fighting disease: In the first decades after the introduction of antibiotics, there was widespread optimism that the fight against infectious disease could be won. This early advert for penicillin was targeted at World War II servicemen. (Picture: Wikipedia.) Current Biology 2012 22, R142-R145DOI: (10.1016/j.cub.2012.02.028) Copyright © 2012 Terms and Conditions

Achilles heel: Bacterial pathogens often depend on pili for their attachment to host tissues. Researchers are looking for new drug candidates that can interfere with the complex self-assembly of these protein fibres at a specialised pore complex (usher) in the outer membrane (OM). Chaperones in the periplasm (P) protect the individual building blocks from aggregation. (Adapted from Remaut et al. (2008), Cell 133, 640-652.) Current Biology 2012 22, R142-R145DOI: (10.1016/j.cub.2012.02.028) Copyright © 2012 Terms and Conditions

Fire bird: Indonesian soldiers in protective closing throw a slaughtered chicken into fire during a joint bird flu prevention drill carried out in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2008. Indonesia has recorded more than 100 human deaths from bird flu since 2003. (Photo: AP Photo/Irwin Fedriansyah.) Current Biology 2012 22, R142-R145DOI: (10.1016/j.cub.2012.02.028) Copyright © 2012 Terms and Conditions

Infectious agent: Coloured transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of a single Beijing influenza virus. The virus consists of a core of RNA (red) surrounded by a spiked protein envelope of haemagglutinin (brown). The spikes adhere to host cells during infection. (Photo: Science Photo Library.) Current Biology 2012 22, R142-R145DOI: (10.1016/j.cub.2012.02.028) Copyright © 2012 Terms and Conditions