Some bacteria naturally transfer pieces of their DNA within and between species. Such a piece of DNA has been engineered to act as a molecular ‘Trojan horse’ that unleashes a toxin to selectively kill antibiotic-resistant Vibrio cholerae bacteria.
Antibiotic resistance among infectious bacteria is an increasing problem worldwide, resulting in large part from the overuse of antibiotics. Writing in Nature Biotechnology, López-Igual et al.1 demonstrate a nifty way to selectively poison antibiotic-resistant Vibrio cholerae bacteria — the species that causes cholera — from the inside. The authors’ aim is to offer a highly targeted alternative to standard broad-brush antibiotics.
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