Several billion years ago, a genetic arms race began between bacteria and their viral killers. This seemingly eternal struggle continues today, with implications for diseases killing tens of thousands of people around the ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 7, 2024
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Through a quirk of anatomy, women are especially prone to urinary tract infections, with almost half dealing with one at some point in their lives.
Cell & Microbiology
May 3, 2024
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University of Central Florida College of Medicine researcher Renee Fleeman is on a mission to kill drug-resistant bacteria, and her latest study has identified a therapy that can penetrate the slime that such infections use ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 2, 2024
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Antibiotic medicines became a popular treatment for bacterial infections in the early 20th century and emerged as a transformational tool in human health. Through the middle of the century, novel antibiotics were regularly ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 1, 2024
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Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn, and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) have discovered a new lantibiotic, namely epilancin A37. It is produced by staphylococci that ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 29, 2024
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Yale researchers have uncovered new details on how bacteria like E. coli build their protective barriers, which will inform new antibiotic development.
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 22, 2024
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Antibiotic resistance is the ability of a microorganism to withstand the effects of antibiotics. It is a specific type of drug resistance. Antibiotic resistance evolves via natural selection acting upon random mutation, but it can also be engineered by applying an evolutionary stress on a population. Once such a gene is generated, bacteria can then transfer the genetic information in a horizontal fashion (between individuals) by plasmid exchange. If a bacterium carries several resistance genes, it is called multiresistant or, informally, a superbug. The term antimicrobial resistance is sometimes used to explicitly encompass organisms other than bacteria.
Antibiotic resistance can also be introduced artificially into a microorganism through transformation protocols. This can aid in implanting artificial genes into the microorganism. If the resistance gene is linked with the gene to be implanted, the antibiotic can be used to kill off organisms that lack the new gene.
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