Replacing antibiotics

– In Wrocław, we have one of two centers for experimental phage therapy, which replaces antibiotics with bacteria viruses called bacteriophages. It is used for treating people with hard cases of sepsis resistant to any antibiotics – says Doctor Marta Kuźmińska-Bajor from the Department of Biotechnology and Food Microbiology, who will deal with bacteriophages in the winning project but with regard to treating poultry, as the growth of poultry production and consumption there is higher number of infections caused by Salmonella and Campylobacter in people.

Bacteriophages make the most numerous group of biological organisms in the world. The project assumes their isolation, description, checking how the pathogens are eliminated and finally obtaining preparations, which when used in large poultry farms will help protect consumers from food poisoning as well as limit the amount of antibiotics used in meat production.

Three hundred fifty-eight scientists entered the recently completed edition of the LIDER programme. In the first stage of the competition, each participant’s project was evaluated by three experts. Doctor Kuźmińska-Bajor’s project got an excellent seventh place.

– The project was well-thought out. One of the highlighted advantages of the project was the selected team involving many outstanding specialists – says the leader of the research group which includes Doctor Aneta Skaradzińska, Doctor Krzysztof Grzymajło, Doctor Anna Woźniak-Biel and Anna Biegalska.

Dr Kuźmińska-Bajor jokes that she won the competition by being in the ninth month of pregnancy during her interview, but to be honest, she has had everything under control from the very beginning. – I know everything about this project, I thought it over, designed every stage and I have already dealt with all the types of research so I am able to predict its advantages and disadvantages, react to problems and solve them. So yes, I feel well prepared to carry out the project – she explained, adding that being a perfectionist she had a moment of doubt during the second stage of the competition when she had to prove the significance of her project for the Polish economy and science in a very concise and tense conversation.

However, the experts also appreciated the fact that the project was designed for a particular company planning to implement it. The National Center for Research and Development allocated nearly 40 million PLN for the winning projects of this edition and it placed particular emphasis on the close cooperation between science and business, as well as showing the benefits resulting from such cooperation. By ensuring the possibility of commercialization of the research results, Doctor Marta Kuźmińska-Bajor entered the role of team leader even before the actual research took place.

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