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Clusters of small numbers of identical atoms are all the rage, but the calculation of their properties taxes even large computers. That is why a simpler method deserves a welcome, but it also has heuristic value.
A deeper undrstanding of antigen-specific immune responses is fast emerging. Last week, at Nature's conference "New Horizons in Immunology", there were reports of progress in unveiling the fundamental mechanisms, and of the latest attempts both to increase the versatility of responses and defeat them in the battle against autoimmunity.