Biotech Updates

Experts Use CRISPR to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance

May 2, 2024

The increasing number of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) calls for an urgent need for innovative tools to combat AMR. In a presentation at the ESCMID Global Congress, Dr Rodrigo Ibarra-Chávez from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, discussed how CRISPR technology can be used to modify and attack AMR bacteria.

Their research involves developing guided systems to combat AMR genes, which are aimed to treat infections and halt the spread of resistant genes. With the evolving defense mechanisms of bacteria, the research team is developing the use of anti-CRISPRs and defense inhibitors to enable the CRISPR-Cas system to work against the AMR genes in the cell.

The research team of Dr. Ibarra-Chávez initially worked on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, and now, in collaboration with Prof. Martha Clokie and Prof. Thomas SicheritzPontén, they are working on a Streptococci necrotizing soft tissue infection.

For more information, read the press release from the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.


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