antibiotic resistance

Published: 4th Sep, 2019

Context

New ?9.3 crore study to check antibiotic resistance in Ganga

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The government has commissioned a 9.3 crore research to analyze the microbial diversity throughout the whole length of the Ganga and determine if parts of the 2,500 km long river contain microorganisms that may generate "antibiotic resistance".
The project aims to identify the type of pollution in the river and its potential hazard to human health.
The project, expected to last two years, will identify sources of Eschericia coli.

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Scientists from the Motilal Nehru Institute of Technology in Allahabad, the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in Nagpur, the Sardar Patel Institute of Science and Technology in Gorakhpur, and start-up companies Phixgen and Xcelris Labs will work on the two-year project.
The latter two offer genome sequencing services, including mapping the genomes of the bacteria collected.

Aim of the research project:

India has one of the highest antibiotic consumption rates in the world. Though antibiotics have helped heal many diseases and saved lives, their overuse and abuse have resulted in a new threat: antibiotic resistance.
According to a note from the Jal Shakti Ministry's National Mission for Clean Ganga, the goal is to identify sources of Eschericia coli, a type of bacteria that lives in the guts of animals and humans, as well as "contamination" (sewage and industrial) in the river and "threat to human health" (antibiotic resistance surge).
While most species are rather safe, some have been related to intestinal illness and increased antibiotic resistance.

There have been various studies on microbial diversity in the Ganga, but they have always been conducted in isolation.

No research has looked at the "entire stretch" of the river, according to Atya Kapley, a scientist at NEERI and project collaborator.
In 2014, researchers from Newcastle University in the United Kingdom and IIT-Delhi collected water and sediment samples from seven places along the Ganga during various seasons. They revealed in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science and Technology that levels of resistance genes that lead to "superbugs" were around 60 times higher during the pilgrimage months of May and June compared to other times of the year.
A 2017 assessment commissioned by the Union Department of Biotechnology and the United Kingdom Research Council found that India has one of the highest antibiotic resistance rates among bacteria that typically cause diseases.

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