Research to work out how Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera, originally became the deadly pathogen that it is now could lead to a better way of delivering antibiotics. The bug became dangerous in its evolutionary past when it took onboard two new genes after being infected with a type of virus called a bacteriophage. This virus latched onto a filament (pilus) on the surface of the bacterium and was pulled inside, and this same process could be used as a way to transport antibiotics right inside bacteria. Lisa Craig of Canada's Simon Fraser University explains: "We do have antibiotics for V. cholerae, but these antibiotics also kill beneficial bacteria in the gut. The idea of using pili as a Trojan horse for antibiotic delivery is new and allows us to specifically and effectively target a given bacterial pathogen." Press release | Abstract