Horizontal gene transfer
Horizontal gene transfer has been demonstrated to occur readily on dry surfaces such as stainless steel, but not on copper and copper alloy surfaces. The rate of bacterial death increased proportionally with the percentage of copper in the copper alloy surface. This can be very important in future clinical and community settings, as an increase in copper utilization in hospital room equipment could help to greatly reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant infection and the horizontal gene transfer of this antibiotic resistance.