Some very cool science is on the drawing board: a recombinant vaccine that pairs salmonella with a gene from, say, the organism that causes tuberculosis as an oral delivery system to stimulate the body's natural immunity to both bacteria.

FORBES: Yes, there is a pulse

Whereas adaptive immunity is thought to be a response to specific bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites, innate immunity has always been seen as the body's general response to all threats of disease.

ECONOMIST: Genetics and infectious disease: The germ of an idea | The