Animal Poo: A New Frontier in Fighting Drug-Resistant Infections

The Challenge of Antimicrobial Resistance

• ⚠️ Antimicrobial resistance is a growing threat as common antibiotics are becoming less effective against bacteria.
• 💡 This resistance means that infections people once easily recovered from may become untreatable.

Harvesting Bacteriophages from Zoo Feces

• 🔬 Scientists at the University of Leicester are collecting animal feces from Dudley Zoo and West Midland Safari Park.
• 🧬 The goal is to harvest bacteriophages, which are viruses that specifically infect bacteria.
• 🧪 These phages are seen as a potential new way to combat drug-resistant infections.

Processing and Testing

• 💧 Zoo samples are sent to Leicester, where they are processed by mixing with saline, shaking, and spinning to isolate the liquid containing phages.
• 🎯 The isolated phages are then tested against antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains.

Future Plans and Collaboration

• 📈 Over the next two years, researchers aim to catalog thousands of phages to identify candidates that could complement antibiotics.
• 🤝 The team plans to collaborate with UK regulators and national antimicrobial resistance initiatives to advance this research.