Blue: Microbes For Future

Bacteria that cause human infections are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics and are a global public health threat. Multidrug resistant bacteria are also found in animals and in the environment, and can be transmitted to humans. By using genomics in a One Health detection and analysis approach we can understand the presence, persistence and transmission of these bacteria across niches.

Antibiotikaresistens omtales som den snikende pandemien med mer enn 1,2 mill. ofre på verdensbasis. Antallet er estimert til å stige i årene fremover dersom ikke trenden med økende resistens snur. Deler av problemet er antibiotika i naturen som gir bakteriene muligheten til å utvikle resistens. Antibiotika som kan brytes ned av lys fjerner denne muligheten og bremser resistens utviklingen.

In an era of impressive technical progress and constantly improving healthcare provision we are facing new problems such as overpopulation and an insufficient supply of food, especially in developing countries. Norway is the world's largest producer of farmed salmon with a production share of 55.3% and therefore, provides an essential contribution to the supply of salmon worldwide. In 2021 Norway exported a record 1.1 million tonnes of salmon despite the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many microbes infect farmed salmon, and the infection is often devastating for the fish causing the destruction of crop that results in tremendous economic losses each year for Norway. Therefore, our research focuses on understanding how these microbes affect the fish health and to develop new disease control strategies that guarantee the supply of healthy and sustainable fish in the future.