As we have already reported, at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the NAS of Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, an expert center on antibiotic resistance is being created – within the framework of the SURE-AMR project (AMR – antimicrobial resistance), in which Ukrainian scientists collaborate with colleagues from Poland, Italy, Spain, and Germany. In particular, specialists from the Institute have already developed a method to combat antibiotic resistance and are testing it in Ukrainian medical institutions. What does the new method involve and what are the prospects for its application in our country? About this, the head of the SURE-AMR project, senior researcher of the Department of Regulatory Mechanisms of the Cell at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the NAS of Ukraine, Candidate of Biological Sciences Olena Moshynets spoke in an interview with the online publication "Dzerkalo Tyzhnia".
“We discovered the possibility of using one antibiotic to make bacteria sensitive again to another. This phenomenon, although described in scientific literature, has not yet been studied in the context of complex gram-negative bacteria. That is why our scheme is unique, and it is important for us to thoroughly study the mechanisms behind its effectiveness. These are our own scientific achievements, a real discovery of Ukrainian science,” the scientist says. “Our research continues, and at the current stage, we are actively cooperating with several hospitals – both public and private.”
According to Olena Moshynets, the SURE-AMR project “covers molecular-genetic research in three environments – medical, veterinary, and environmental. We aim to understand how resistance markers and corresponding genes spread in the ecosystem. In particular, we plan to study hospital wastewater, as there are grounds to believe that it causes environmental contamination with resistance genes, which may pose a threat to the health of humans and animals. Also, within the project’s research, we focus on molecular-genetic mechanisms. This includes conducting molecular DNA analyses of bacteria using various methods that are constantly being improved.”
Learn more about the achievements of the scientists at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the NAS of Ukraine, as well as the obstacles they face during their research, from the full version of the publication.
Comments by Olena Moshynets on this issue can also be read in an article on the website of the online publication "Censor.NET".