Prickly Business

Antibiotic resistance is one of the world’s biggest threats to human health. It happens when bacteria overcome the antibiotics prescribed to kill them. These so-called superbugs exist in large part due to the overuse of antibiotics in humans and animals, but they can occur naturally. In fact, the emergence of one strain of the superbug MRSA has recently been found to predate antibiotics themselves. mecC-MRSA evolved on the skin of hedgehogs over 200 years ago when an antibiotic-producing fungus threatened the bacteria already living there. In order to survive, the bacteria developed a resistance to the antibiotic created by the fungus. Bacterial strains, either lab-grown or from the wild hedgehogs were cultured in the presence of the fungus. Strains from the hedgehogs put up the biggest fight, as they continued to thrive close to the fungus (far left, middle and bottom dishes), whilst the others were defeated (dark rings).

Written by Katy Pallister

Katy Pallister

Writer

Katy is a freelance science educator, presenter, writer and producer based in London. She is a former Engagement and Events Officer at the MRC LMS.

• Image from work by Jesper Larsen and Claire L. Raisen, and colleagues
• Department of Bacteria, Parasites & Fungi, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Nature, January 2022