How does antibiotic resistance spread? Scientists find answers in the nose
Tuesday, November 20, 2012 - 15:30
in Biology & Nature
Microbiologists studying bacterial colonization in mice have discovered how the very rapid and efficient spread of antibiotic resistance works in the respiratory pathogen, Streptococcus pneumoniae (also known as the pneumococcus). The team found that resistance stems from the transfer of DNA between bacterial strains in biofilms in the nasopharynx, the area just behind the nose.