Gut-throat competition: Native bacteria fend off invaders, suggesting new way to stop dangerous forms of E. coli

The bacteria that usually live in our digestive tracts compete against invading bacteria such as E. coli to help our bodies fend them off. The researchers also show that the invaders depend on certain genes to gain a temporary upper hand in that battle -- just long enough to reproduce and cause the symptoms that expel their offspring from the body so they can find a new host.