Discovery made on meningitis, pneumonia

(ANSA) - Rome, September 30 - The mechanism behind a DNA transformation - responsible for turning innocuous bacteria nestled between the throat and the nose into virulent meningitis and pneumonia - has been identified by an international team of researchers and published in Nature.
    The discovery behind the workings of the pneumococcus could give insight into the causes of a number of other infections, because similar transformations have been observed in other bacteria, research co-coordinator Marco Oggioni told ANSA.
    Oggioni works at the University of Siena and the University of Leicester, and coordinated research efforts along with Michael Jennings of Griffith University in Australia. Oggioni also expressed hope that interfering with the transformation mechanism could supplement conventional therapies, making them more effective.