Your New Assignment

"Problem?" you ask.

Fran sets down her box and pulls out a rack of test tubes. "At the hospital, mostly we've been trying to keep these people alive," she says. "What they've got, basically, is profound hemophilia. We found we can stop the bleeding temporarily with clotting factor. The problem is... we're running out of clotting factor."

"Yikes," you say.

"We've got to learn how to stop this disease at its source," she goes on. "Now that we know it's a bacterium..." She holds up the test tubes. "Antibiotics," she summarizes. "Let's find one that... what the heck is that?"

Footsteps are pounding outside, getting closer fast. A figure bursts through the door with wild eyes and arms streaked with blood. It's Zack.

Continue with the mystery

An Access Excellence Science Mystery sponsored by Genentech, Inc.