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New and improved technologies are helping us to detect and characterize symbiotic microorganisms, whereas model symbiosis systems are revealing the molecular basis for partnerships. In this Essay, Margaret McFall-Ngai provides the historical context for the study of symbiosis and discusses the challenges that this emerging field faces.
Collaborations of scientists from developed countries and developing countries have had great success, but often have trouble getting established. Here, Iruka Okeke and John Wain describe the benefits of collaborations, the hurdles faced in their initiation, ways to promote them and the programmes that are already in place to develop them.