Bacteria have been caught “stripping off” in order to evade antibiotics and survive, scientists show.

Researchers at Newcastle University filmed bacteria “undressing” and taking off their outer layer – or cell wall.

Antibiotics can attack cell walls so scientists think this is a new form of drug resistance and could explain why some infections keep coming back.

But experts said it was still unclear if this was having an impact on patients.

What are they taking off?

Some species of bacteria have a cell wall built out of sugars and amino acids (the building blocks of protein).

It gives the bacterium shape and protection but it is also a weak spot that can be exploited by antibiotics.

The first antibiotic to be discovered, penicillin, disrupts the cell wall and causes bacteria to burst.

The study, published in Nature Communications, looked at bacteria from elderly patients with urinary tract infections that kept coming back.

Researchers spotted that some bacteria were responding to antibiotics by slipping out of their cell wall in order to escape the drug’s effects. Read more

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Bacteria have been caught “stripping off” in order to evade antibiotics and survive, scientists show.

Bacteria have been caught “stripping off” in order to evade antibiotics and survive, scientists show.

Bacteria have been caught “stripping off” in order to evade antibiotics and survive, scientists show.

Bacteria have been caught “stripping off” in order to evade antibiotics and survive, scientists show.

Bacteria have been caught “stripping off” in order to evade antibiotics and survive, scientists show.

Bacteria have been caught “stripping off” in order to evade antibiotics and survive, scientists show.

Bacteria have been caught “stripping off” in order to evade antibiotics and survive, scientists show.

Bacteria have been caught “stripping off” in order to evade antibiotics and survive, scientists show.