Rapid chip-based detection of antibiotic resistances

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is responsible for more than one million deaths worldwide. AMR is associated with the misuse and over-prescription of antibiotics. Developing fast diagnostic methods rely on bacterial cultures that are time consuming and often inefficient. A new approach was designed based on technology developed by previous ERC research to isolate bacterial RNA in minutes. The ERC-funded ResisCHIP project will develop and validate these tools combined with a rapid RNA chip array with single-molecule resolution. It will provide a tailor-made, culture-free diagnostic kit able to identify thousands of genes and pathogens from a blood sample in less than two hours, allowing the rapid selection of the best treatment.