Science Daily — Bacteria have two major enemies: antibiotic drugs and bacteriophage viruses, which infect and kill them. The two disparate threats may have something in common. New research from Rockefeller University has found that certain bacteria have gained a gene that protects them from both toxic drugs and infectious viruses at the same time. Because it helps the bacteria fight viral infection, the gene is beneficial even to those bacteria that have never been exposed to antibiotics, and as a result may be contributing to a faster-than-expected spread of antibiotic resistance. >>> Discuss This Story
