The evolution of bacterial social life: From the ivory tower to the front lines of public health

Abstract

Drug-resistant bacteria are a huge and growing threat to public health. A solution exists in theory, but had not yet been put to a practical test. The accompanying paper by Ross-Gillespie et al., the theory is put to a test and performs successfully. As predicted, using a drug that targets bacteria's shared secreted 'public goods' molecules instead of cell components did not drive the bacterial evolution of drug resistance, and therefore retained its effectiveness. This result holds great promise for better drugs and vaccines against many infectious diseases, and also for better cancer therapies.