Our biosciences researchers are playing a leading role in a major new study investigating how pollution accelerates the evolution of drug-resistant bacteria, often called superbugs.
CARMA (Co-selection of Antimicrobial Resistance by Metals Alliance) is one of 18 research projects being supported through a £54 million investment from the UK Government and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
It is led by Imperial College London, in collaboration with researchers from our Department of Biosciences and partners in the UK and India.
The Durham team will lead CARMA's environmental research; studying how metals, sewage and other pollutants interact in rivers and whether this encourages antimicrobial resistance.
The team will be co-led by Professor David Graham, an engineer and world expert on antimicrobial resistance in the environment.
Professor Graham is a regular advisor to the United Nations and other agencies on water, health and environmental issues.
The Durham team will be co-led by Dr Marcos Quintela-Baluja - an expert in microbial genetics and metagenomics - who works at the interface between science and engineering across One Health settings.
Connecting pollution and resistance
Antimicrobial resistance develops when microbes stop responding to medicines designed to kill them, making infections harder to treat.
Bacteria in polluted environments develop defences that can sometimes help them withstand antibiotics, even ones they have never encountered.
The CARMA project will extend over 10 years of research by members of the Durham team - including current work with UNESCO - which has aimed to understand how antimicrobial resistance evolves and circulates around the natural environment.
Earlier studies found metal-resistant bacteria were often antibiotic-resistant. CARMA will investigate this link using advanced genetic techniques.
The team will sample river systems in North East England and across India, ranging from clean to heavily polluted sites.
Following resistance from rivers to hospitals
The researchers will track where resistance develops and how resistance genes move between bacteria, comparing findings with clinical bacteria to see whether environmental resistance reaches bacteria causing infections.
Professor Graham said: "People do not always see the connection between a polluted river and a drug-resistant infection in a hospital, so this project brings environmental and medical research together.
"By studying both sides in the same way, we can begin to understand where superbugs evolve, how people may encounter them and what we can do to reduce the risk."
Building practical solutions
The project brings together expertise in medicine, genetics, engineering, modelling and economics.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham will predict risks at unsampled locations, and economists will assess the cost and practicality of possible solutions.
This joined-up approach will identify measures to reduce pollution and slow antibiotic resistance, informing policymakers protecting human, animal and environmental health.
