Autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, are complex disorders characterized by an inflammatory response against the body's own tissues. Recent findings reveal new insights into how these diseases are initiated and progress and the factors that contribute to their clinical symptoms. Such work also pinpoints potential new therapeutic targets including the integra...

This issue’s Biomedicine Select highlights new insights into the role of mitochondria in disease. Several new studies implicate abnormal mitochondria in the destruction of neurons of the substantia nigra, the cause of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Meanwhile, an elegant computational approach has enabled identification of candidate genes for several mitochondrial diseases including the mitochondrial...