Scientists have said that 'superbugs' known as the enterococci – resistant to virtually all antibiotics – had evolved 450 million years ago, even before the dinosaurs. According to researchers, antibiotic resistance is a leading public health concern worldwide as it threatens nearly five per cent of patients with infections during their stay in hospitals.The study showed evidence that enterococci were also in the intestines of land animals that are now extinct, including dinosaurs and the first millipede-like organisms to crawl onto land.
The Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard said, "By analysing the genomes and behaviours of today's enterococci, we were able to rewind the clock back to their earliest existence and piece together a picture of how these organisms were shaped into what they are today." In fact, the new species of enterococci…
