You are currently viewing the abstract.
View Full TextLog in to view the full text
AAAS login provides access to Science for AAAS members, and access to other journals in the Science family to users who have purchased individual subscriptions.
More options
Download and print this article for your personal scholarly, research, and educational use.
Buy a single issue of Science for just $15 USD.
Abstract
Microbial genomics has revolutionized infectious diseases and epidemiology research and is facilitating the tracking and containment of emerging biological threats. Among the most serious contemporary infectious agents are multiple antibiotic–resistant strains of the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, which present a formidable public health challenge that is no longer limited to hospitalized patients. To address key hypotheses regarding microbial strain evolution or virulence, conventional genotyping methods do not offer enough power to resolve minor changes between closely related strains. The application of next-generation high-throughput genotyping technologies, as illustrated in a recent analysis of a highly resistant S. aureus strain, can provide new clues about the geographical origin and intrahospital spread of important microbial pathogens.
Footnotes
-
Citation: R. K. Aziz, V. Nizet, Pathogen microevolution in high resolution. Sci. Transl. Med. 2, 16ps4 (2010).
- Copyright © 2010, American Association for the Advancement of Science
