Newcastle researchers have become the first to reveal the "armour" that hospital superbug C. difficile uses to protect itself from antibiotics.
The disease is now the most common superbug - and the new discoveries, including a stunning image of the bacteria's structure, give hope to scientists looking into how drugs could be developed to tackle its antibiotic resistance.
Working with scientists around the country, a Newcastle University team led by Dr Paula Salgado has used a imaging techniques called electron and X-ray crystallography to unveil a "close-knit yet flexible outer layer" to the bacteria which cause C. difficile - and they've likened it to chain mail.
