Saarbrücken, November 18, 2024 - To combat antimicrobial resistance in the long term, new resistance-breaking drugs are urgently needed. In addition, it is important to educate the public about the social significance and proper use of antibiotics. The citizen science project MICROBELIX focusses on both of these issues. Participants collect soil samples in which researchers at the HIPS search for new bacteria that could serve as a source of new active ingredients. At the same time, the citizen scientists receive valuable information on antibiotics, resistance and microbial biodiversity. In this interview, Dr. Daniel Krug, a senior scientist in the Microbial Natural Products department, explains how MICROBELIX works and why it is particularly important to search for new antibiotics in the present day.
World AMR Awareness Week 2024
How citizens can contribute to the fight against antimicrobial resistance
With MICROBELIX, anyone can become a researcher. Please explain the idea behind this citizen science project.
MICROBELIX is an invitation to everyone to immerse themselves with us in the biodiversity of microorganisms in the soil. The hope is to catch a glimpse of the otherwise invisible, which we can make visible through our research work. The very small things under our feet are always fascinating for many people.
In addition, there is of course the applied aspect that this biodiversity, which we discover together, is the input for a veritable research pipeline. At the end of this pipeline are new active ingredients. I think this interplay between the general idea of natural research and the idea of medical application is what makes this project so appealing.
In addition to the search for new drugs, MICROBELIX also aims to actively transfer knowledge to society. How does the MICROBELIX project educate participants on the importance of microorganisms in drug research, particularly with regard to antibiotics?
The first surprise that our citizen scientists usually have when we present our project is that antibiotics are not a human invention at all. Instead, their mode of action is regularly used in the soil, which is a highly competitive habitat for microorganisms. They engage in a kind of advanced neighborhood dispute with antibiotics. As slow-growing organisms, the myxobacteria that we are particularly researching here in Saarbrücken and in Braunschweig must be chemically all the more powerful in order to assert themselves in this habitat.
Why do you think it is particularly important for society to learn more about antibiotics and antibiotic resistance right now and how does MICROBELIX support this goal?
The coronavirus pandemic has pushed the issue of antimicrobial resistance into the background. We therefore think it is particularly important now to show that a kind of 'silent pandemic' is permanently underway. We run the risk of falling behind in terms of antibiotic resistance because the current practice of using antibiotics, including their use in animal fattening, has also led to the progressive development of resistance. We are currently in the position of having to come up with innovations and new active substances, because otherwise we will no longer have a reserve therapy for difficult-to-treat diseases.
Many people already have a gratifyingly enlightened level of knowledge about this and are therefore personally very enthusiastic about MICROBELIX. Even if you don't know whether your own soil samples will be successful, you can still make an active contribution.
Interview: Dr Charlotte Schwenner
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