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Article: Anthrax bacteria conspire with viruses to stay alive.
- Article from:
- NewsRx Health
- Article date:
- August 30, 2009
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 NewsRX. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The brute force of Bacillus anthracis, the ancient scourge that causes anthrax, can sweep through and overpower a two-ton animal in under 72 hours. But when it isn't busy claiming livestock and humans throughout the world -- up to 100,000 annually -- it resides ominously in the soil as a spore waiting for its next victim. Researchers at Rockefeller University now reveal that this deadly bacterium isn't the only master of its fate. Its survival is directed and shaped by the DNA of bacteria-infecting viruses in what appears to be an evolutionary contract written to benefit both parties.
The research, led by Vincent A. Fischetti, head of the Laboratory of Bacterial ...