Born in the twilight of antbiotics

The antibiotic resistance crisis threatens human health and calls for urgent actions to secure the future from drug resistant infections. The overuse, misuse and even use of antibiotics stand as the main drivers of the global increase in antimicrobial resistance. The need to gain a better understanding of how microbes develop resistance is therefore of outmost importance. Not only major pathogens are members of the human microbiome in both health and disease, but also the human microbiome represents an important reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes. Despite its relevance, little is known about the landscape of resistance genes in humans, known as the human resistome, and the impact of antibiotics. In this project, we address the off-target impact of antibiotics on the human microbiome and resistome. One of our main ur aims is to investigate the impact of antibiotics on the respiratory and gut microbiomes of infants in countries with different challenges regarding antimicrobial resistance.