A research team working at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory has determined the three-dimensional structure of a key protein on the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. Called OspC, the protein is derived from two strains of the Lyme disease bacterium. This research may lead to a second-generation vaccine that would be more effective than the current one.

A new blood test for Lyme disease may provide a more accurate method for detecting the tick-borne illness, particularly in its early stages when current tests may not yield an accurate diagnosis. A researcher from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has used a method that detects telltale proteins that often remain hidden from routine blood tests for Lyme disease.