In the fight against superbugs, scientists at North Carolina State University are using an unlikely tool: powerful gene-reading technology that lets them track antibiotic resistance as it jumps between different germs.
The research, published in the journal JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance, focuses on tiny rings of DNA called plasmids that bacteria pass between each other, even across different species. Unlike a bacterium's main DNA (called its chromosome), plasmids act like portable genetic backpacks, carrying bonus genes that can help bacteria survive. When one of those bonus genes provides resistance to antibiotics, that resistance can spread far faster than if it just relied on bacteria reproducing the normal way.
Siddhartha Thakur, who leads NC State's Global One Health Academy, and studies how diseases spread, explains that whole-genome sequencing has changed everything. "Rather than looking only at the bacteria themselves, we can now identify and compare the plasmids they carry, allowing us to follow the movement of resistance genes across humans, animals, foods and the environment," Thakur said.
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