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This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute.

The plague is most famous for killing¹ tens of millions of people all over Europe in the 1300s.  Plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis. And the disease still exists in pockets around the world. In fact, because it can be transmitted through the air, the government considers the plague a Category A bioterrorism agent and a serious potential threat.

Scientists from the University of Idaho have published a way to fight back at the plague in the journal Microbiology. Bacteria that cause the disease get past our defenses by dampening the immune system and actually preventing it from responding. But researchers have developed molecules² that mimic³ a lipid on the bacterial⁴ surface. These molecules make the immune response spring back to life.

Scientists tested a nasal spray with two such molecules on mice infected with the plague. The spray enlivened the animals’ immune systems and made antibiotics⁶ much more effective. The spray and antibiotic⁵ combination helped more mice live through the plague compared with a control group. Despite this advance, one should still avoid Yersinia pestis like, well, the plague.

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber .