Bacterial "superbugs" can gain resistance to antibiotics as the microbes are actively infecting a person. Now, a new study suggests that treatments for these serious infections could be improved by tracking these genetic changes as they unfold in the bacteria.
"Our study is the first to show that by tracking bacterial evolution in real-time, genome sequencing can reveal tricks bacteria use to survive, giving doctors the power to stay one step ahead and tailor treatment to the specific bacterial strain," study co-author Dr. Stefano Giulieri, a clinician researcher and infectious-disease physician at the Doherty Institute in Melbourne, Australia, said in a statement.
