Call it advanced warfare on the most elemental of levels.
Researchers at Texas A&M University's Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering have discovered how certain types of bacteria integrate the DNA that they have captured from invading enemies into their own genetic makeup to increase their chances of survival.
To be more accurate, the genetic material isn't really captured as much as it is simply utilized after it's injected into the bacteria by an invading virus, says Professor Thomas K. Wood, who along with colleagues Xiaoxue Wang and Younghoon Kim has published the findings in Nature's 2009 International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal.
Researchers at Texas A&M University's Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering have discovered how certain types of bacteria integrate the DNA that they have captured from invading enemies into their own genetic makeup to increase their chances of survival.
To be more accurate, the genetic material isn't really captured as much as it is simply utilized after it's injected into the bacteria by an invading virus, says Professor Thomas K. Wood, who along with colleagues Xiaoxue Wang and Younghoon Kim has published the findings in Nature's 2009 International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal.
