Yay! We just received funding from Geocenter Denmark for our one year project:
Microplastics as an accelerator of the antibiotic resistance crisis
Can microplastic store antibiotic resistance genes and pass it on to bacteria?
This also mean that I will be doing fieldwork again. A treat I have not explored since 2011 ish when I last was in East Greenland. This time, we will embark on a 1 day journey into the exotic bay of Kalø! This site is, despite the no-need for helicopter support, interesting as it contain some potential pollution point sources which we find can be important enhancers for propagations of antibiotic resistance genes.
Our first day out looked like this at times
Sample pick up in 2 month.
My collaborators and co-PIs on the project are:
Assoc. Professor Nicole Posth, IGN UCPH. Nicole is an expert in Geomicrobiology and the Plastisphere. Assoc. Professor Katrine J. Andresen from the Dept. of Geoscience: at Aarhus University, Katrine is an expert in marine geophysics and sedimentary processes. Post doc Saghar Hendiani, from Globe Institute, UCPH. Saghar is Master Yoda of horizontal gene transfer measurements and and biofilms.
I look much forward for our fieldwork adventures and all of the fun testing if microplastics and the micro environment created on them are hot spots for propagating antibiotic resistance.
You can read more about the project here: Link