Antibiotic-resistant bacteria cut off from the outside world for more than four million years have been found in a deep cave.The discovery is surprising because scientists had thought bacteria built up resistance to antibiotics after being repeatedly exposed to the treatment.
However, the resistant bugs from Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico, U.S., have had no contact with humans, suggesting the environment may be to blame.
They are thought to have picked up their resistance from natural anti-bacterial chemicals in the environment.
'Our study shows that antibiotic resistance is hard-wired into bacteria. It could be billions of years old, but we have only been trying to understand it for the last 70 years,' said Dr Gerry Wright, from McMaster University in Canada, who has analysed the microbes. Read More
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