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How to fight Lyme may lie in the biology of its disease-causing bacteria

Its unusual cell wall may hold clues for understanding and treating the tick-borne illness

This pinkish image that looks a little like a pile of spaghetti is a tangle of the spiral-shaped bacteria that causes Lyme disease.

New insights into the molecular makeup of Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, a tangle pictured here in its signature spiral shape, could lead to advances in understanding and treating Lyme disease.

Callista Images/Connect Images/Getty Images Plus

By Leah Rosenbaum

Not all cell walls are created equal. Take the peculiar makeup of the Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium’s cell wall.