50—crispr vs receptor resistance nature paper

Why do bacteria evolve CRISPR-based phage resistance in natural environments, while in the lab, they seem to more readily evolve receptor-based resistance? Ellinor Alseth (University of Exeter) and colleagues have published a new paper digging into this discrepency. Their results show that in the presence of other human pathogens, the fitness consequences of altering phage receptors are higher. This likely explains why in vivo, CRISPR-mediated resistance is the type of phage resistance more commonly observed.