Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to global health and food security. The excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics in human medicine and animal husbandry has massively accelerated the development of resistant bacterial pathogens. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antibiotic resistance is associated with longer hospital stays, higher healthcare costs and increased mortality. In 2019, they were partly responsible for around five million deaths. Current forecasts assume that up to ten million people could die from resistant pathogens every year by 2050. By comparison, the SARS-CoV-2 virus caused around seven million deaths worldwide between 2019 and 2025.

A key strategy in the fight against this threat is the rapid and precise identification of resistant pathogens in order to prevent their further spread. Conventional methods are time-consuming (at least 48 hours) and require a complex laboratory infrastructure. Together with the spin-off company Cellectric Biosciences, AIT has therefore developed novel detection technologies that can identify resistance more quickly and cost-effectively. In several European and national projects, the AIT is working with industrial and academic partners on diagnostic solutions that are also being tested and validated in a clinical environment.
 

As new resistances are constantly developing, it is essential for the healthcare system and for the developers of diagnostic tests to maintain an up-to-date overview of the epidemiological situation. The AIT therefore works closely with clinical partners and analyses the situation in hospitals and at neuralgic environmental locations. This continuous monitoring is crucial in order to recognise the outbreak of so-called “super germs” at an early stage and prevent their spread. The findings are regularly published in scientific studies and serve as the basis for new diagnostic approaches.

In recent years, AIT has successfully patented highly innovative detection methods and published the results in renowned scientific journals. The research goes beyond diagnostics: in addition to analysing the molecular mechanisms behind antibiotic resistance, the AIT is also researching technological concepts that could contribute to the development of new types of antibiotics in the future.

Through interdisciplinary cooperation and continuous research work, the AIT makes an essential contribution to combating antibiotic resistance and helps to maintain the effectiveness of life-saving drugs in the future.