Scientists map genetic codes of 3,000 dangerous bacteria

• U of C antibiotic study helps physicians battle dangerous bacteria

• Drug-resistant 'nightmare bacteria' pose growing threat, CDC says

"Knowing very accurately what bacteria looked like before and during the introduction of antibioticsand vaccines, and comparing them to current strains, shows us how they have responded to thesetreatments," said Julian Parkhill of Britain's Wellcome Sanger Institute who co-led the research.

"This in turn helps us develop new antibiotics and vaccines."

Specialists estimate that around 70 per cent of bacteria are already resistant to at least one antibioticthat is commonly used to treat them.

This has made the evolution of "superbugs" that can evade one or multiple drugs one of the biggestthreats facing medicine today.

Among the most serious risks are tuberculosis which infects more than 10.4 million people a yearand killed 1.7 million in 2016 alone and gonorrhoea, a sexually transmitted disease that infects 78million people a year and which the World Health Organization says is becoming almost untreatable.

The genomic maps of the 3,000 strains are to be published on the NCTC's website and made freelyavailable to researchers worldwide to help them in the development of potential newdiagnostic tests, vaccines or treatments.