Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered a novel mechanism that could be responsible for aiding the spread of one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (STD) in America. Investigators used a synthetic barrier to study the ability of N. gonorrhoeae, the bacterium responsible for gonorrhea, to spread infection. When exposed to seminal plasma, the liquid part of semen, 24 times more bacteria were able to move through the barrier. The findings were published in mBio.