A study conducted in C. elegans nematode roundworms may lead to improved treatment of a rare human genetic disorder that causes severe neurological symptoms leading to death in early childhood. In their report published in Nature Chemical Biology, two Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators describe finding that C. elegans can acquire the molybdenum cofactor (Moco) – a molecule essential to the function of essential enzymes—by consuming E.coli bacteria, the first evidence that Moco can be transferred between species. The investigators also identified the metabolic pathway that is responsible for the symptoms observed in Moco deficiency.