date:Aug 06, 2012
e journal PLoS ONE, proposes a possible avenue for weakening the virulent strain and -- if all goes according to theory -- preventing it from causing severe illnesses like those witnessed in Germany.
According to the researchers, the key to O104's success is that unlike other toxic E. coli, it possesses an adaptation that allows multiple bacteria to group together and form a protective 'biofilm' to ward off its host's defenses.
If scientists could develop a way to disrupt this biofilm, they mi