Team:IOANNINA
say goodbye
to antibiotics
Bacteria are an important part of our world and they perform life maintaining bioprocesses.
Humans, animals - even the Earth as a whole- have microbiomes. They provide them essential substances for their lives and functions.
Bacteria found in the environment produce important nutrients and hormones. Plus, they contribute to the biogeochemical cycles.
An average adult has a total microbial biomass that weights approximately 0.2 kg.
Meanwhile, some of them pose a major threat to both human and animal health.
Our weapon against serious bacterial infections is antibiotics. They are preventing many deadly complications, but their usage should be rational.
Based on ECDC, in 2019 the average total consumption of antibiotics – including those of the community and the hospital sector- in EU was 19.4 defined daily doses (DDD) per 1000 inhabitants per day.
In other words, in a representative group of 1000 inhabitants, 19.4 DDDs of the drug are utilized on average, on any given day of the year analysed.
On the other hand, FDA has reported an increase in the amount of antibiotics that have been given in food animals in the United States. The increase in 2018 was 9% and it was followed from another 3% rise in 2019.
Moreover, these antibiotics were medically important, meaning that they are also used in the human medicine.
It is a fact that, all over the globe, a lot of antibiotics are consumed in human health and livestock.
After the consumption of antibiotics, large amounts of the original substances and some metabolites end up in the sewage, where they remain bioactive for a long time.
Without proper management, these bioactive substances accumulate in the environment, where they exert pressure for selection of antibiotic resistance on the microflora.
Thus, Antimicrobial Resistance -in short AMR- emerges. In recent years the concern on AMR has spiked as reckless usage of antibiotics has grown while waste management has remained insufficient.
AMR is a problem of the global community. That reflects on the fact that it hinders the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (SDGs).
Our team was inspired by the SDGs, particularly those that command improvement of waste management, promotion of sustainable agriculture and production, and promotion of health and well-being.
Considering that stock-raising is one of the main sectors of production in our country, we decided to create a system that improves manure’s management.
The solution we came up with targets and inactivates two antibiotic classes: tetracyclines and macrolides.
Note that both are medically important antibiotics.
A biosensor in our system detects antibiotics in the environment. At the point which no tetracyclines or macrolides can be detected, the system will self- destruct, by a kill- switch mechanism.
AntiByeotic aims to contribute to the fight against AMR.
Our project is designed based on the principles of the “One Health” approach and tries to contribute to the achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals.
Through our activity, we aim to raise awareness of this serious matter- to community and stakeholders- hoping that more precautionary measures will be taken from now on.
