For more than two decades. Dr. Robert Atkins preached and sold gospel of protein is good for you. And carbohydrates are evil. Until recently, this line of thinking was beyond pale. Now there is some new evidence. That backs idea that a high- protein. Low-carbohydrate diet. May accurately help you lose weight.

Whether such a diet that also includes bacon, steaks, butter, cheese. And other foods with plenty of saturated fat is good for your overall health is another matter.

In theory, a high-protein/low carbohydrate diet could help increase your satiety. A feeling of fullness that comes with eating. Fewer carbohydrates could also avoid fast and high rises. And falls in your blood sugar. Which may also keep your hunger at bay. Together, these could help you avoid overeating. Making you satisfied with fewer calories.

That's theory. Unfortunately, there are few good long-term studies to test it. Short-term studies have shown low- carbohydrate diets to be safe in short term. But your weight loss is due mostly to a reduced caloric intake. Not necessarily to low-carbohydrate nature of diet. Such reductions often happen when you drastically change what you eat.

Scientists have long known that bacterium Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) plays a leading role in development of acne vulgaris, scourge afflicting some 80% of teenagers and many adults as well. A normally harmless microbe that lives in hair follicles of every person, P. acnes helps cause acne when follicles become plugged with sebum, a natural oil produced by body.

Recently a team of German scientists, led by microbiologist Dr. Holger Brueggemann, mapped genetic code of P. acnes microbe. They discovered that it has a circular chromosome with 2,333 genes, many of which had surprising destructive abilities. "We were astonished to see how many genes were involved in degrading human tissue," said Dr. Brueggemann.