●Catching the common cold Blacklow, S. C. Nature Structural and Molecular Biology May (2004) The X-ray structure of the minor group human rhinovirus HRV2 — one of the causes of the common cold — in complex with its host cell receptor, the calcium-containing modules of the low-density lipoprotein receptor, has been solved and is the subject of this News and Views article.

●HIV takes the indirect route Minton, K. Nature Reviews Immunology May (2004)

●Shock factor shed by microbe Cohen, J. Nature Medicine April (2004) Jonathan Cohen comments on the finding that toxic shock syndrome — which is caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae and results in plasma leakage from circulatory vessels — results from the effects of neutrophils that are activated by the bacterial surface M protein. Intriguingly, septic shock syndromes are caused by a variety of bacteria, each with different pathogenic mechanisms.

●Gene regulation by riboswitches Mandal, M. & Breaker, R. R. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology June (2004)

●The mosquito's innate sting Saul, A. Nature Medicine May (2004) A mosquito protein similar to complement enables the insect to fend off the malaria parasite.

●Yeast as a model system for anticancer drug discovery Simon, J. A. & Bedalov, A. Nature Reviews Cancer June (2004) Yeast is widely used as a model organism for investigating many aspects of eukaryotic cell biology. How can these advantages be put to use in anticancer drug discovery?

●Interactions between commensal intestinal bacteria and the immune system Macpherson, A. J. & Harris, N. L. Nature Reviews Immunology June (2004) In this Opinion the authors address the effects of the commensal flora on mucosal and systemic immunity and discuss the implications for the effects of hygiene on human disease.

●Teamwork in phytoremediation Glick, B. R. Nature Biotechnology May (2004) Genetically modified bacteria, equipped with a set of genes that encode a toluene degradation pathway have now been shown to improve the degradation of toluene in plants. This finding could help to improve the removal of organic contaminants by plants, which in turn could reduce environmental problems.