Ralph Ellison

The Evolution of

Staphylococcus aureus , one of the predominant pathogens of human disease worldwide, has adapted readily to each principal class of antimicrobial agents introduced during the last 56 years. Grave concern exists that we will soon face vancomycin- and methicillin-resistant strains for which no effective antibiotic therapy will remain. Two new reports provide information on how this bacterium has evolved during the last 40 years, thus giving us better insights into what the future may bring. Fitzgerald and colleagues used the published …