Projektbeschreibung
Kostengünstige mikrobielle Charakterisierung in abgelegenen Regionen
Bakterielle Infektionen sind ein wichtiges Gesundheitsproblem, und durch das Auftreten antibiotikaresistenter Arten sind schnelle Diagnosen notwendig. Die derzeitigen Methoden zur Prüfung der Antibiotika-Empfindlichkeit erfordern teure Geräte, sind zeitaufwendig und anfällig für Kreuzkontaminationen. Das vom Europäischen Forschungsrat finanzierte Projekt MuFLOART hat zum Ziel, ein kostengünstiges Photometriegerät zu entwickeln, mit dem mikrobielle Phänotypen effizient quantifiziert werden können. Dieses Gerät würde die Untersuchung von mikrobiellen Wachstumsraten, Stoffwechseleffizienzen und der Empfindlichkeit gegenüber Antibiotika ermöglichen und damit die Phänotypisierung von Arzneimittelresistenzen in geografisch abgelegenen Gebieten erlauben. Das Team arbeitet derzeit an zwei Prototypen und bemüht sich um eine Finanzierung, um ihr Design fertig zu stellen und Feldtests in Forschungslabors und Schulen im Vereinigten Königreich durchzuführen.
Ziel
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.
Wissenschaftliches Gebiet
- 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
Programm/Programme
Thema/Themen
Finanzierungsplan
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantGastgebende Einrichtung
EX4 4QJ Exeter
Vereinigtes Königreich