Developing a rapid diagnostic kit for antibiotic resistance: ResisTEST

Programme(s): H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Topic(s): ERC-2018-PoC - ERC Proof of Concept Grant

Call for proposal: ERC-2018-PoC

Funding Scheme: ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant

Grant agreement ID: 825569

Objective
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a worldwide epidemic, causing more than for 700.000 deaths per year globally, expected to rise to 10 million deaths annually, by 2050. AMR is associated with an increase in morbidity, longer hospitalization time and a marked increase in the associated medical costs. While several attempts are being enforced to reduce the misuse and abuse of antibiotics, we are in dire needs of methods to rationalize the use of antibiotics. Currently, bacterial cultures are the staple diagnostic method of AMR. However, this method presents important drawbacks, such as a long turnaround time, which can be up to two weeks for some bacterial strains, low sensitivity, and the requirement to have, at least to a certain degree, prior information on the putative causative bacteria. All in all, these factors lead to the administration of wide-spectrum antibiotics in the meantime, leading to inefficient treatments, antibiotic changes and AMR occurrences. Hence, it is critical developing novel diagnostic methods offering a faster, high-sensitive alternative to bacterial cultures, the staple in AMR diagnostics. While several systems, such as DNA sequencing, are currently being developed, they require costly equipment and specialized training, limiting its use. In this regard, in ResisTEST we take advantage of our expertise in molecular biology and the knowledge and technology developed in an ERC StG to propose a fast, high-sensitive AMR detection approach that, once further developed into a diagnostic kit, will allow the isolation and real-time monitoring of the expression of different resistance gene without the need of prior knowledge on the pathogen. Therefore, this disruptive approach could represent a significant breakthrough in the fight against AMR, allowing to define, with unprecedented precision, the antibiotic of choice for the treatment of infections where AMR is suspected.