The latest impact factors (for 2007) have just been released from Thomson Reuters [2]. They are as follows:
PLoS Biology - 13.5
PLoS Medicine - 12.6
PLoS Computational Biology - 6.2
PLoS Genetics - 8.7
PLoS Pathogens - 9.3

The following is a statement from Peter Hotez, Editor in Chief of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases [10], and President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute [11], in reaction to President Bush’s announcement [12] yesterday of a new global initiative to combat neglected tropical diseases.

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases [15] invited Dr Joana Lowell, Project Director at the non-profit Bio Ventures for Global Health [16], to write a Guest Blog on the upcoming Partnering for Global Health Forum [17].

Did Christopher Columbus and his men introduce syphilis into Renaissance Europe, after contracting it during their voyage to the New World? Or does this pathogen have a much older history? A study [20] by Kristin Harper and colleagues published last week in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases [21] lends support to what’s known as the Columbian theory of syphilis’s origin while suggesting that the non-sexually-transmitted subspecies arose earlier in the Old World.

The study spread throughout both mainstream press and science blogosphere alike, as did a related Expert Commentary [22], written by Connie Mulligan and colleagues, that challenged the methods and findings of the syphilis study.

As Frédéric Tangy and colleagues explained in their recent study [26] in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, "The development of an affordable pediatric vaccine that could provide long-term protection against all four dengue serotypes remains a global public health priority."