Crafty Bacteria Change Shape To Evade Antibiotics

Shariqua Ahmed
Wed, 06 Nov 2019 12:32:54 -0800

Antibiotics — medications that destroy or slow down bacteria growth — are becoming increasingly less effective as the pathogens find new ways to evade the drugs. Some produce pumps that flush the antibacterial medicines out from the bacterial cell, while others modify themselves, so they are unrecognizable as targets. Now, researchers at UK's Newcastle University have recorded the germs shedding their outer skins and changing their shapes to avoid detection.