Research by Exeter University has found that a so-called 'breakthrough' medical treatment could actually make diseases worse.
Up until now it's been thought that diseases can be made less severe by introducing weaker strains of the microbes that cause them into the infected organism.
But tests on a fungus which blights rice plants found that combining supposedly 'friendly' microbes with more aggressive ones made the disease more serious.
The researchers are now asking for an urgent rethink of the theory that 'fighting fire with fire' is always beneficial - having shown that it works in some cases but not all.
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