Infectious bacteria have for the first time been caught performing "biological alchemy" to transform parts of a host body into those more suited to their purposes, by a team in Edinburgh. The study, in the journal Cell, showed leprosy-causing bacteria turning nerves into stem cells and muscle.
![Leprosy bacteria use 'biological alchemy'](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/1cd6b5c214947d790c7c265fd6f5755878dd7a7c/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fichef.bbci.co.uk%2Fnews%2F1024%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F65350000%2Fjpg%2F_65350412_b2200810-leprosy_bacteria-spl.jpg)