Acinetobacter and Engineering Biology
Professor Ronan McCarthy and Lyuboslava Harkova, both from Brunel University and EBIC, recently attended the Acinetobacter conference in Niagara Falls. The conference was a fantastic opportunity for those interested in the latest research on Acinetobacter to showcase their work.
Ronan McCarthy reported that “One very interesting take home from the conference was that the US Department of Energy has selected Acinetobacter as one of its primary organisms to develop for synthetic biology and engineering biology applications and is now investing heavily in a number of US labs to accelerate this”
Lyuboslava presented her poster – ‘Exploring plastic degradation amongst Acinetobacter species’, which was very well received and sparked some fantastic conversations around the topic – congratulations Lyuboslava! Here’s what Lyuboslava had to report from the conference:
“My role in EBIC involves designing of genetic circuits to control bacterial biofilm formation for more effective bioremediation. In our lab group we are also interested in discovering novel plastic degrading enzymes. Part of our current work focuses on the plastic degrading capabilities of the Acinetobacter genus, which is the work I presented at the Biology of Acinetobacter XIV in Niagara Falls, NY, US in July this year. There was a great interest in our research, our findings were very well-received by the Acinetobacter community and we got new ideas and positive feedback. Also, all five days of the conference were filled with interesting talks and posters, as well as great opportunities to network with fellow ECRs, as well as established researchers in the field”.
You can learn more about Ronan & Lyuboslava’s work in our podcast:
What is Acinetobacter?
Acinetobacter is a genus of bacteria, which are found throughout the environment including drinking and surface waters, sewage, soil and even in some types of foods
Acinetobacter is considered to be clinically significant as it is known for its antibiotic resistance and role in healthcare-associated infections.
Learn more about the Acinetobacter conference here
