The number of people who die from antibiotic-resistant germs is increasing worldwide. The World Health Organization WHO considers the spread of antibiotic resistance and appropriate countermeasures as one of the most important global challenges nowadays. Against this background Gabriele Berg, who heads the Institute of Environmental Biotechnology at TU Graz, has initiated an interdisciplinary cooperation project called Plant-associated microbial communities in indoor environment which is funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). The research group investigated microbial control – the degree of cleaning and hygiene measures – and how it influences the development of resistances. Research was carried out together with national partners of the Medical University of Graz in the framework of the BioTechMed-Graz inter-university cooperation and international partners. The results of the research have just been published now in Nature Communications.
Read more about the research project Plant-associated microbial communities in indoor environment in the TU Graz news article on the TU Graz website.
The project is anchored in the Field of Expertise “Human & Biotechnology”, one of five research foci of Graz University of Technology.
To the source publication Man-made microbial resistances in built environments in Nature Communications 10, Article number: 968 (2019)
Contact
Gabriele BERG
Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Biol. Dr.rer.nat.
TU Graz | Institute of Environmental Biotechnology
Tel: +43 316 873 8310 | gabriele.berg@tugraz.at
Alexander MAHNERT
Dr. techn. Msc. Bakk. rer. nat.
Interactive Microbiome Research
Medical University of Graz
Tel: +43 316 385 72815 | alexander.mahnert@medunigraz.at