This suggests that those people with an aberrant form of the protein (the result of the defective gene) might be more resistantto herpes infection than their fellows.
Trials of the drug Tygacil have shown its ability to combat certain infection strains that have become resistantto medicines, including MRSA and the E.coli bug.
The genetic analysis also showed the strain was resistantto the first choice antibiotic, chloramphenicol, which means more expensive drugs would be needed to treat the infection.
The bugs in question run the gamut from fungi, which cause ailments such as athlete's foot, to viruses that cause herpes or a potentially deadly infection known as MRSA, or methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus.