date:Nov 19, 2018
pathogenic bacteria that may be present in the intestine. This is known as horizontal gene transfer. In nature, horizontal gene transfer enables bacteria to rapidly adapt to changing environmental conditions. If a patient is treated with antibiotics, bacteria that have incorporated these kinds of transferable resistance genes into their genome have an advantage and multiply more than their less well-equipped competitors. Due to the low level of contamination of salad with E. coli, it is not kno