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Microbes adapt to inner space

The human gastric bacterium Helicobacter pylori can acquire cholesterol from its host and enzymatically alter the molecule to counteract the immune system. The finding reveals yet another strategy used by successful microbial colonizers to evade immunity. Do such strategies make the microbe more like us (pages 1030–1038)?

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Figure 1: Levels of interaction between hosts and coevolved residential microbes.

Kim Caesar

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Blaser, M. Microbes adapt to inner space. Nat Med 12, 994–996 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0906-994

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