"Clinically Relevant Mutations in Core Metabolic Genes Confer Antibiotic Resistance" is the title of the new paper co-written by biology professor Allison Lopatkin, published in the journal Science. By examining mutations in metabolic genes, the paper hypothesizes how the antibiotic resistance of these genes could aid in the survival of clinical pathogens. The study found that disease-causing micro-organisms, or pathogens, possessed a significant amount of lab-generated metabolic mutations after the experiment that could reinforce the pathogens with antibiotics resistance.
The paper builds on the research Lopatkin conducts in her lab, the Lopatkin Lab, which aims to understand how microbial populations develop resistance and how to combat those mutations.