Professor Conrad Lichtenstein, Nemesis Biosciences

Location: Bourne Lecture Theatre 2

At Nemesis Bioscience we are developing Symbiotics© – DNA therapeutics administered before or with antibiotics to inactivate anti-microbial resistance in bacterial pathogens. Symbiotics will make existing antibiotics work again, prevent the spread of resistance genes, and protect the efficacy of new antibiotics. The technology is applicable to all antibiotic classes, all known resistance mechanisms, and to all bacteria.To deliver the Symbiotics, Transmids©, our novel vectors, are encapsidated in a bacteriophage coat. Transmids can also spread directly between bacteria by conjugation.Other applications include reduction of chemotherapeutic toxicity, inactivation of virulence factors, and in vivo synthesis of biofuels and therapeutics. Symbiotics, use RNA-guided endonuclease technology to inactivate 8 families of betalactamase (bla) resistance genes –so resurrecting sensitivity to a broad range of beta-lactams. We have validated the (i) efficacy of Transmid delivery by phage coat infection and of consequent AMR inactivation in mouse models in therapeutic studies in a bacterial infection and (ii) also prophylactically inactivating AMR following plasmid conjugation from an introduced commensal strain to AMR bacteria in the gut flora. We are now developing Transmids for delivery to, and AMR inactivation in, pathogenic E. coli and other Enterobacteriaceae. Our multi-functional gene targeting systems may obviate the need for prior diagnostic screens for antibiotic resistance and used generally as a companion biological therapeutic together with well established antibiotics for therapeutic treatment of infection as well as for prophylactic treatment to prevent the spread of AMR.

We host a number of guest seminars throughout the academic year to which all students and staff are invited. This is a great way to learn about current research going on at other universities and research institutions, and to meet and network with other scientists.

Find out more about Professor Conrad Lichtenstein