Lucky bacteria strike it rich during formation of treatment-resistant colonies
Wednesday, May 8, 2013 - 12:00
in Biology & Nature
In biology, we often think of natural selection and survival of the fittest. What about survival of the luckiest? Like pioneers in search of a better life, bacteria on a surface wander around and often organize into highly resilient communities, known as biofilms. It turns out that a lucky few bacteria become the elite cells that start the colonies, and they organize in a rich-get-richer pattern similar to the distribution of wealth in the U.S. economy, according to a new study by researchers at UCLA, Northwestern University and the University of Washington.