An international team will use state-of-the-art, high-density microarrays and new computer algorithms to improve the detection of variants in the human genome which are implicated in various diseases. The new systems are the foundation of Phase 2 of the Genome Structural Variation Consortium, which was set up in 2004 and seeks to identify structurally variable regions in the human genome.

A comparison of three parasite species that cause Leishmaniasis has identified a small number of genes, many new to biology, that will provide a framework to target the search for new treatments. Leishmaniasis is a devastating disease that affects about two million people each year and threatens one-fifth of the world's population and new treatments are desperately needed.

A major study of the organization and regulation of the human genome published today changes our concept of how our genome works. The integrated study is an exhaustive analysis of 1 per cent of the genome that, for the first time, gives an extensive view of genetic activity alongside the cellular machinery that allows DNA to be read and replicated.

The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, the largest ever study of the genetics behind common diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and coronary heart disease, today publishes its results in the journals Nature and Nature Genetics.

The genome of the organism that produces the world's most lethal toxin is revealed today. This toxin is the one real weapon in the genome of Clostridium botulinum and less than 2 kg - the weight of two bags of sugar - is enough to kill every person on the planet. Very small amounts of the same toxin are used in medical treatments, one of which is known as Botox®.

A role for a microRNA in the immune system has been shown by study of one of the world's first microRNA knockout mouse, reported Friday 27 April in Science. The microRNA acts as a lynchpin to balance the response of immune defences and the researchers suggest the corresponding human gene will have a similar vital role.

The study, published online today in the Journal of Neuroscience and carried out by the Genes to Cognition Consortium, is the first to look at mice that lack the SAP102 gene. Male humans lacking the SAP102 gene have mental retardation or learning disabilities, including poor reading.

The survey, published in Nature today, shows that the number of mutated genes that drive development of cancer is greater than previously thought. Significantly, as well as driver mutations for cancer, each cell type carries many more passenger mutations that have hitchhiked along for the ride. The study shows that a challenge for cancer biologists will be to distinguish the drivers from the larger number of passengers.

Findings published today in Science will accelerate the search for genes involved in human disease. The report provides a first genome-wide view of how the unique composition of genetic variation within each of us leads to unique patterns of gene activity.

Pathogens can become superbugs without their even knowing it, research published today in Science shows. 'Stealth' plasmids - circular DNA 'parasites' of bacteria that can carry antibiotic-resistance genes - produce a protein that increases the chances of survival and spread of the antibiotic-resistant strain.