Researchers track evolution and spread of drug-resistant bacteria across hospitals and continents
Friday, January 22, 2010 - 17:35
in Biology & Nature
Using high resolution genome sequencing, scientists have tracked a deadly strain of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus as it traveled between South America, Europe and Southeast Asia. The new technique provides an unprecedented view of how MRSA evolved over decades and across entire continents, as well as on the short timescale of a few weeks within a hospital in Thailand.