Scientists have hit back at hospital superbugs by cracking the genetic code of a common strain of MRSA. The strain chosen causes half of all UK outbreaks of MRSA. The researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute hope they will be able to use the code to find MRSA’s weakness. The findings, published Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, come at a time when scientists fear MRSA deaths could double in five years. The MRSA strain studied, called EMRSA-16, contains several unique genetic elements that are related to its virulence and drug resistance. Dr Matt Holden and colleagues also looked at a ‘cousin’ of the bacterium which is susceptible to antibiotics.
