Flesh-Eating Bacteria Carry Genes for Getting Under Your Skin, and Thriving

Necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating disease, occurs when certain types of streptococcal bacteria start visiting harm that is more than skin deep. Instead of limiting themselves to the epithelium and subepithelium, these strep bacteria keep burrowing, invading the soft tissues beneath and establishing life-threatening conditions. These bacteria presumably carry genes that distinguish them from their self-limiting brethren. Yet the genes that turn strep bacteria into voracious “flesh eate