‘Jumping genes’ help a bacterium that causes hospital infections to adapt quickly

Over the past three decades, mobile DNA sequences called transposable elements have proliferated throughout the genome of Enterococcus faecium, an important bacterium behind infections in hospitalized individuals. These ‘jumping genes’ can replicate rapidly, alter gene activity and seem to help E. faecium to alter its metabolism on clinical timescales. Transposable elements have proliferated in the bacterium Enterococcus faecium, altering its metabolism and genome structure.