A group of Universite Laval and Danisco researchers just found the secret of bacteria's immune system, the discovery may eventually make it possible to prevent certain bacteria from developing resistance to antibiotics is presented in an issue of the scientific journal Nature. The lead researcher is Professor Sylvain Moineau of Universite Laval's Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Bioinformatics showed that the item of discussion, called CRISPR/Cas, works by getting foreign DNA segments and placing them into very specific locations in a bacterium's genome, the segments then serve as a type of immune factor in fighting off future invasions by cleaving incoming DNA. The researchers demonstrated this using plasmids, DNA molecules that are regularly exchanged by bacteria. The plasmid used in the experiment, which contained a gene for antibiotic resistance, was inserted into bacteria used in making yogurt, Streptococcus thermophilus. Some of the bacteria moved the segments of DNA from the resistance gene into their genome, and attempts to reinsert the plasmid into these bacteria failed.
http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2010/11/04/researchers_unlock_the_secret_of_bacterias_immune_system.html
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