Science Daily, Dec. 10, 2007 A purified extract prepared from a common microbe and delivered to the lungs of laboratory mice in a spray set off a healthy immune response and provided powerful protection against all four major classes of pathogens including those responsible for anthrax and bubonic plague, according to new research. Johnny Peterson, of UTMB's Department of Microbiology and Immunology, is a co-author of the report.