Scientists discover how bacteria pair up to boost their defence system

They looked for pairs which occurred more often than would be expected by random chance (Alamy/PA)

Scientists have discovered that bacteria can pair up to boost their defence systems which could help lead the way to the development of new alternatives to antibiotics.

The research by the University of Southampton, to be published in the journal Cell Host and Microbe, found that bacteria can boost their defence systems to fight off attack from phage viruses.