Every year, approximately 12 million adults in the U.S. are diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and 120,000 die from it. For people with COPD, Haemophilus influenzae, a bacterium, can be particularly dangerous. Now, researchers have unraveled how the bacterium adapts quickly, which may open new avenues for therapy for COPD and other diseases such as ear infections or pneumonia.