Tackling antimicrobial resistance at its source

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a top global health threat with ramifications that go far beyond a decreasing ability to treat disease. Research led by Professor Chris Thomas at the University of Birmingham (UoB) is targeting AMR at its source.

Plasmids are autonomous DNA elements in bacteria that often carry genes encoding properties such as virulence, colonisation and AMR. Some plasmids can transfer between bacteria, spreading these abilities even between different species.

Professor Thomas is the Scientific Director of Plasgene, a spin-out from UoB that is producing displacement technology against plasmids, exploiting fundamental knowledge of their biology.

Plasgene’s technology uses ‘good’ plasmids, called pCURE, that are engineered to displace ‘bad’ plasmids coding for unwanted properties, such as AMR. With BBSRC funding, Professor Thomas has further developed this technology to remove plasmids carrying AMR from gut bacteria. The funding resulted in a patent application covering potentiated displacement of AMR plasmids.

Recent BBSRC Follow-on funding has supported a collaboration with the Animal and Plant Health Agency, the University of Surrey, and Harper Adams University to explore applications in pigs. If successful, the technology will provide an animal, and potentially human, probiotic intervention to make infections arising from gut bacteria easier to treat.