Bacteria 'sleep', then rapidly evolve, to survive antibiotic treatments

Using quantitative approaches from physics, biophysicists discovered a surprising way that bacteria can evolve resistance to antibiotics. After evolving a sleeping mechanism, the bacteria can then wake up and evolve resistance 20 times faster than normal -- at which point continuing to administer antibiotics won't kill the bacteria. The results indicate that tolerance may play a crucial role in the evolution of resistance in bacterial populations under cyclic exposures to high antibiotic concentrations.

Originally published at https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170209142558.htm