The medical arms race: overcoming microbial resistance

11/18/21 • 48 min

CORDIScovery – unearthing the hottest topics in EU science, research and innovation

The antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, organisms are developing, and our bid to counter that with new ways of controlling them, is like an arms race – one we stand a better chance of winning if we use the antimicrobials that are still effective, more carefully. This special episode of CORDIScovery, timed to coincide with the WHO’s annual World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, invites three guests to share the work they are doing to win the race between the resistance microbes develop, and the ways we have to control them.

Fredrik Almqvist, co-founder of QureTech Bio AB, explains the work the QTB4AMR project is doing to change the chemical relationship between an antibiotic and its target bacteria. The weird and wonderful world of soil microbes and the ways in which they communicate could give rise to a new generation of biopesticides. Ana Bejarano explains how her RhizoTalk project will help.

How did farming become so systemically dependent on antibiotics and is it too late to turn that around? Nicolas Fortané, who coordinates the ROADMAP project, shares his findings.

For more info on the projects featured, visit: https://europa.eu/!QpB9CM

How did farming become so systemically dependent on antibiotics and is it too late to turn that around? Nicolas Fortané, who coordinates the ROADMAP project, shares his findings.

For more info on the projects featured, visit: https://europa.eu/!QpB9CM

Previous Episode

Cloth, glass and stone: Innovation and cultural connections in the middle ages

The past is shadowy but the objects that mattered to the societies that came before us illuminate those who produced and used them. So, in this episode we are considering cloth, glass and stone, and what they reveal about innovation and cultural connections in the Middle Ages.

Nadine Schibille’s GlassRoutes project looked at the geopolitical, sociocultural and artistic dimensions of glass in the first millennium CE. She is joined by Maria Mossakowska-Gaubert whose project, MONTEX, examined the culture surrounding textile use and production in Egypt, from the Ptolemaic to the early Arab period.

Saša Čaval’s project, SOLMUS, considered the medieval burial stones in the Western Balkans, locally called stećci. Who were the people who carved these monoliths and how did their traditions evolve?

As with all interesting science, we have more questions than answers! For more info on the projects featured, visit: https://europa.eu/!wx7X7h

Next Episode

ICT: exploring the benefits

Finding missing children with real-time input and geofencing, helping a visually impaired person navigate a challenge that crops up in their daily lives, fake news: sorting the wheat from the chaff – this episode we are looking at the bright side of our use of technology.

Christian Erfurt launched his first healthcare start-up while still in high school. He is behind the BEMYEYES app that’s available in 150 countries and has almost 5 million volunteers supporting 313 000 users with visual impairment.

We have all seen missing children flyers. But how best to move from paper notices to digital tools? Christos Ntanos tells us how the ChildRescue project, a collective awareness platform, is being used to find and rescue missing children.

The internet is like rocket fuel when it comes to the spread of misinformation. Francesco Saverio Nucci’s project FANDANGO is using AI to turn the tables, helping news agencies identify what looks suspicious.

For more info on the projects featured, visit: https://europa.eu/!Wk9QmR