Staphylococcus, a bacteria that colonizes the noses of one in five people, has proven over the years to be among the most adaptable bacteria. Targeted with penicillin in 1942, by 1948 staph was largely resistant. Erythromycin was introduced in 1952 and quickly lost its bite, leading to raging hospital infections. Now vancomycin is the magic bullet. As a class, though, they are certainly less individualistic than we are.
Bacteria are indifferent to how they get their genes.
Sworn to the Hippocratic oath, doctors will throw everything in their arsenal at bacteria to save one patient. All rights reserved.