Scientists find new clues to how bacteria evade antibiotics

Scientists have made an important advance in understanding how a subset of bacterial cells escape being killed by many antibiotics.Cells become "persisters" by entering a state in which they stop replicating and are able to tolerate antibiotics. Unlike antibiotic resistance, which arises because of genetic mutations and is passed on to later generations, this tolerant phase is only temporary, but it may contribute to the later development of resistance.