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Following evolution of bacterial antibiotic resistance in real time

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A new study reports the development of the 'morbidostat', a device that allows for continuous culture of bacteria under a constant drug selection pressure using computer feedback control of antibiotic concentration. This device, together with bacterial whole-genome sequencing, allowed the authors to follow the evolution of resistance-conferring mutations in Escherichia coli populations in real time, providing support for deterministic evolution of resistance in some situations.

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Figure 1: The morbidostat applies a continuous selective pressure to the bacterial population.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biology, Adam Z. Rosenthal and Michael B. Elowitz are at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA.,

    Adam Z Rosenthal & Michael B Elowitz

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  1. Adam Z Rosenthal
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  2. Michael B Elowitz
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Correspondence to Michael B Elowitz.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Rosenthal, A., Elowitz, M. Following evolution of bacterial antibiotic resistance in real time. Nat Genet 44, 11–13 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.1048

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