Scientists watch as bacteria evolve antibiotic resistance

Growth patterns reveal E. coli’s path to becoming superbugs

picture of bacteria on enormous petri dish

PETRI PLATTER  A petri dish more than a meter long helped scientists visualize the evolution of antibiotic resistance in E. coli bacteria. Bacteria placed on the outer edges had to adapt to higher and higher levels of antibiotics as they moved toward the center of the plate.

Harvard Medical School

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For bacteria, practice makes perfect: Adjusting to ever higher levels of antibiotics preps them to morph into super resistant strains, and scientists can now watch it happen.