The 1918 influenza strain developed two mutations in the hemagglutinin which allowed it to bind tightly to receptors in the human upper respiratory tract.
Scientists say the power of copper to fight germs lies in the fact that copper ions separate on contact with bacteria and cause irreversible damage to the bacteria's cells.
Phytophthora kernoviae, a disease that can kill oak and beech trees has been found for the first time in the UK. The fungus, which forms bleeding cankers on the bark of trees, blackens leaves on plants and causes shoots to die.
The death toll in China's outbreak of hand-foot-mouth disease has risen to 42 children, with the capital Beijing reporting its first case on Wednesday.
Bacteria have tiny channels in their walls which operate like the valve on a pressure cooker - they open to release material when the pressure in a bacterial cell gets too great. If the channel didn't open to relieve pressure the bacteria would explode and die, so this is a target for drug development.
It may seem remarkable that, 23 years after the identification of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), there is still denial that the virus is the cause of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).