Viruses infecting the liver cause thousands of cases of liver failure, cancer and death each year. Now, two such viruses, hepatitis A and hepatitis C, have been shown to attack the same part of the immune system, according to a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences earlier this month. Stanley Lemon, a University of Texas microbiology professor, and his colleagues believe that destroying a protein called mitochondrial antiviral signalling (MAVS) may be a necessary step for viruses seeking to infect the liver.

In a world of fad diets and rising incidence of eating disorders, Inger Stallmann-Jorgensen, a research dietician, offers some surprising news. Published in the April issue of The International Journal of Obesity, Stallmann-Jorgensen et al.'s findings show that teenagers who exercised the most and ate the most were the leanest.