Researchers from Harvard Medical School in Boston exposed mice to various strains of a bacterium that causes a range of infections in those with weakened immune systems. Certain strains of the bacterium contained antibiotic-resistant genes, the same kind once thought to hinder the microbes. In this instance, the antibiotic-resistant strains were better than non-resistant strains at infecting the mice.
Resistant strains of bacteria that cause Acinetobacter baumannii, which is a known driver of hospital-acquired infections, were also better-equipped at infecting mice than those without resistant genes.
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