There is little doubt that the next few years will see an increase in the amount of research on potential bioterror agents. Money talks, and with the US government allocating $1.75 billion for biodefence research in the 2003 financial year alone, plenty of researchers are listening. As Claire Fraser's review on page 23 highlights, geneticists will be at the forefront of this research push: comparative genomics, proteomics, vaccine development and microbial forensics are just a few of the relevant research areas. To accompany this important forward-looking review, we have gathered bioterror and biodefence-related content from Nature Publishing Group journals in a special web focus that can be found at http://www.nature.com/nrg/focus/biodefence.

So, in terms of funding, the news for those interested in microbial genomics is good. However, the increasing number of microbial geneticists who are redesigning their research programmes to fit in with a biodefence agenda should keep in mind the last topic to receive a big funding boost in response to public concerns: HIV. Despite 20 years of effort, we still do not have a cure or an effective means of preventing HIV infection. So, throwing money at a problem does not necessarily lead to a quick answer, but, as Edward Holmes and colleagues show in their review of HIV evolution on page 52, it will certainly lead to a broader and deeper understanding of a topic that might, in the long term, be more important than a quick-fix solution.

Genomics has benefited greatly from the enthusiasm of those who have kept such long-term benefits in mind. Functional genomics is taking us closer to realizing these benefits and, as Anne Carpenter and David Sabatini highlight in their review on page 11, the information and tools are now available to allow us to do this in a high-throughput fashion for higher organisms.