Bacteria can be found everywhere: on and in our bodies, in other animal species, in the environment or on food. Where bacteria not only benefit us, but can also cause harm as pathogens, medical research is trying to help through precise diagnostics and targeted therapies.
However, these tiny organisms are clever at defending themselves: even across species boundaries, bacteria exchange virulence and resistance genes and are constantly evolving. InfectoGnostics researchers are working on state-of-the-art diagnostic methods to ensure that they do not lose this evolutionary race with the bacteria.
At the LNDW Jena, InfectoGnostics scientists from Leibniz IPHT and Friedrich Schiller University Jena will be presenting such methods for rapid testing for bacterial pathogens and determining their antibiotic resistance and virulence. Visitors of all ages will be able to carry out microarray experiments themselves and find out about modern infection diagnostics.
