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Researchers at IBEC provide new insights on how to treat chronic infections

Researchers at Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) have managed to recreate the coculture conditions and environmental requisites that would allow the simultaneous and stable growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, two major pathogens commonly found growing together in intricate biofilms in disease-affected lungs or wounds.

Most chronic infections occur due to the inherent capacity of some bacterial pathogens to grow in biofilms. Biofilm-associated infections, which have become a critical worldwide threat, have historically been treated as single-species events.

A molecular mechanism could explain how bacteria resist antibiotics

IBEC researchers have shown for the first time how bacteria make DNA under stressful conditions, such as drug treatments.

This new knowledge could help develop new antibiotics that work, tackling the urgent problem of antibiotic resistance.

The Bacterial infections: antimicrobial therapies group led by Dr. Eduard Torrents was studying the bacterial strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can cause severe chronic lung infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, leading to severely impaired lung function, an increased risk of respiratory failure, and death.