Project description
Low-cost microbial characterisation in remote regions
Bacterial infections constitute an important health issue, and the emergence of antibiotic-resistant species warrants prompt diagnosis. Current antibiotic-susceptibility testing methods require expensive equipment as well as being time-consuming and prone to cross-contamination. Funded by the European Research Council, the MuFLOART project proposes to develop a low-cost photometry device capable of quantifying microbial phenotypes efficiently. This device would enable the study of microbial growth rates, metabolic efficiencies and susceptibility to antibiotics, enabling drug resistance phenotyping in geographically remote areas. The team is currently developing two prototypes and seeking funding to finalise their design and conduct field tests in research labs and schools in the UK.
Objective
The accurate quantification of microbial populations is critical for understanding how microbes evolve and adapt to stressful environments. This, in turn, can help improve rationales for drug deployment aimed at minimising the evolution of antibiotic resistance. Working on ERC-funded research into how microbial communities optimise their virulence traits and mediate drug-resistance, our team identified a need for a low cost photometry device capable of high-throughput quantification of microbial phenotypes such as microbial growth rates and metabolic efficiencies; microbial dose responses and susceptibility to antibiotics; antibiotic interactions datasets; microbial individuality and heterogeneity data and population mean gene expression profiles for fluorescently labeled genes. There are multiple positive consequences of having these capabilities at low cost: we can create high-throughput data pipelines for microbiology research, particularly for evolutionary studies or phenotypic screens; we can improve the dissemination of high-quality phenotypic data analysis algorithms (such as synergy tests for antibiotics) and so provide standardisation for those phenotypic assays; schools can benefit from the low-costs laboratory hardware and bring data analysis for microbiology into their mathematics, biology or computer science teaching; our lightweight devices with small footprints can be used to access geographically hard-to-reach areas where drug resistance phenotyping could be conducted using either battery or solar power. We are, therefore, now in the process of creating two prototypes that can perform these functions and we are seeking funding to finalise their design and field test the devices in three different settings: a partner research laboratory studying microbial evolution, a hospital research laboratory studying antimicrobial resistance and finally schools in a top-10 deprived area of the UK that cannot afford biotechnology equipment for teaching science.
Fields of science
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdata science
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsantibiotics
- natural sciencesmathematics
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiology
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacydrug resistanceantibiotic resistance
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantHost institution
EX4 4QJ Exeter
United Kingdom