Plastic and protein have joined hands for the common good of humankind. Jon Cooper and his colleagues at the University of Glasgow's Bio-Electronics Research Centre, Scotland, have successfully connected a polymer that conducts electricity to cytochrome c, a protein that plays a vital role in respiration, opening a simple way for detecting biological molecules in medical or industrial samples. The scientists believe the breakthrough may lead to a new generation of 'bio-sensors' with widespread applications from medical diagnosis to quality control.