Birkbeck University Of London’s Research Makes A Breakthrough In Finding The Solution To Tackle Antibiotic Resistance

Birkbeck, UCL and the Indian Institute of Technology have joined forces to tackle the pressing issue of antibiotic resistance, which occurs when bacteria change over time and no longer respond to medicines. 

In new research, published this week in the journal Antibiotics, the researchers successfully created molecules that block the enzyme responsible for antibiotic resistance. The designed molecules, based on a new concept, have the potential to reverse antibiotic-penicillin resistance in infectious bacteria. The next step is to validate this molecule against various other conditions inside the human cell model to translate their potential to be a useful bedside medicine to tackle resistance.

Professor Sanjib Bhakta, Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Biochemistry at Birkbeck, commented: “We must take every measure against antibiotic resistance in infectious diseases now, before this major global health challenge goes beyond our ability to control it. If the current trend continues, there will be more than 10 million preventable deaths every year by 2050.

“This original research article was the first step of this inter-institutional collaboration between UK and India to accelerate the design of new and effective treatment options. We are thankful to the British Council and the support of ASEM-DUO INDIA 2020-22 to facilitate this international research and knowledge exchange.”

Professor Anindya Sundar Ghosh, Professor in Biotechnology at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, added: “I was really delighted to receive the 2020 DUO-India Professor Fellowship Award with Professor Bhakta. This fellowship has boosted our collaborative research on antimicrobial resistance and initiated new research on designing and assessing the inhibitory effectiveness of molecules. I sincerely look forward to a fruitful collaboration and hope that in future we will be able to expand the same project to some substantial grants.”