A Furtive Pathogen Revealed

The pathogenic bacterium Neisseria meningitidis is the cause of meningococcal meningitis. Although a vaccine is available for Neisseria of serogroups A and C, there is no vaccine available for serogroup B. In a Perspective, [Nassif][1] reports on the sequencing of the complete genome of N. meningitidis type B strain MC58 ([ Tettelin et al .][2]) and the mining of this genome to identify highly conserved surface proteins that may be valuable as vaccine antigens ([ Pizza et al .][3]). [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/287/5459/1767 [2]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/287/5459/1809 [3]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/287/5459/1816