Earlier this year, the American Society for Microbiology published the genome of vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) in an effort to understand and thwart the mechanisms that enable the bacteria to develop total resistance.

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S. aureus is a small, gold-colored bacteria that is often among the first to out-mutate antibiotics designed to kill it.

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Like other bacteria, S. aureus mutates at random, and through trial-and-error it will eventually find a way to outsmart any drug.

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When caused by S. aureus, the endocarditis is fatal at least one-third of the time.

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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.

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