Scientists in Australia and America believe they have found a way to deal with the increasing antibiotic resistance of deadly superbugs such as MRSA.
A team of researchers which includes Professor Ron Skurray and Dr. Neville Firth from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Sydney and Dr. Maria Schumacher from the University of Texas, have been working on new ways to combat resistance.
They have already identified a potential method of stopping bacteria passing on resistance genes to the next generation when they divide.
Hospitals worldwide are facing serious problems in dealing with bacteria which are resistant to multiple types of antibiotics and particularly powerful bugs such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are entrenched in many hospitals.
The problem causes significant concern because such superbugs mean longer hospital stays and are a serious and sometimes fatal threat to patients' health.
The researchers say bacterial strains become resistant by acquiring a pre-existing resistance gene from other bacteria and this happens because resistance genes are often carried on mobile DNA molecules called plasmids, which are mini-chromosomes that can be transmitted between bacteria.
Bacteria that have these resistance genes are more likely to survive when exposed to the antibiotic, and as a result become more common.
The researchers have created a detailed picture of the golden staph bacteria's division process, and have identified a biological step they hope can be targeted to stop the plasmids being passed on to the next generation.
Lead researcher Dr. Neville Firth says it is this specific system which moves the plasmid DNA into the daughter cells when the cells divide into two - ensuring both daughter cells get a copy, rather than two in one cell and none in the other.