Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance in Pigs Researched

July 15, 2015 — 

Nearly £5M has been awarded to two flagship research projects into antimicrobial resistance (AMR), in one of the largest UK public grant investments in this area, according to the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). [Source: Pig Progress, July 15, 2015]

At the University of Cambridge, lead researcher Dr Mark Holmes will look into the effects of antibiotic use on the entire population of animal gut flora, not just the disease causing bacteria. His work, using research in pigs, is meant to help understand the evolution of antibiotic resistance and help to make better choices about how to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance on farms. "This is important not just for human health but also in our farming industry, which has a high dependence on blanket treatments of antibiotics, increasing the chances of developing resistance."

The researchers say that antimicrobial resistance is a huge and complex problem for healthcare and agriculture. "Antibiotics have been used to treat bacterial infections in humans and animals for 70 years, but these medicines are becoming less and less effective. No new classes of antibiotics have been discovered for 25 years and some strains of bacteria are now unharmed by the drugs designed to kill them. It's estimated that 10 million people around the world could die from drug resistant infections by 2050, if this problem is not addressed."