 Within "N. gonorrhoeae", genes exist that confer resistance to every single antibiotic used to cure gonorrhea, but thus far they do not coexist within a single gonococcus.However, because of "N. gonorrhoeae"s high affinity for horizontal gene transfer, antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea is seen as an emerging public health threat.As a gram negative bacteria, "N. gonorrhoeae" requires defense mechanisms to protect itself against the complement system (or complement cascade), whose components are found with human serum.