Playing the name game

Every project needs a suitable name. So when Newcastle University scientists prepared to kick off a project to tackle the TB bug, they wanted something that captured a little of their deep commitment to the "cause".

The nature of the cause becomes clearer when the tongue-twisting MycolylArabinoGalactanPeptidoglycan Initiative and Exploitation is reduced to its acronym - Magpie. Curiously, the project has wound up with a moniker uncannily similar to the nickname of the local football team, Newcastle United.

Bournemouth University scientists are trying to find a project that fits the acronym Red Devils.