Wisconsin-Madison launches Ab E Discovery to develop antibiotic-free technology to prevent farmyard animal infections.
A new Wisconsin-Madison University (WMU) spin-out is looking to take a commanding role in the fight against the antibiotic-resistant bacteria by removing antibiotics from farming.
Ab E Discovery has been formed to commercialise technology surrounding the Interleukin 10 (IL-10) antibody. Bacteria and other pathogens manipulate this “off-switch” during infection to circumnavigate the immune system. However, a WMU team led by Mark Cook, professor of animal sciences, have discovered how to disable the switch, thus closing the door to potential infections.
Currently, around 80 percent of antibiotics used in the US are deployed by farmers, giving bacteria ample opportunity to evolve to combat the drugs and providing a fertile breeding ground for antibiotic-immune diseases and infections which could become one of the largest challenges for humanity over the coming century.
By targeting the immune system rather than the bugs themselves, Cook’s team are essentially bug fixing the immune system and shutting down backdoors hijacked by bacteria.
“People have manipulated the immune system for decades, but we are doing it in the gut. Nobody has done that before,” said Cook. “We are not focused on the pathogens. We are focused on what they are trying to do to the immune system. We are getting encouraging data from dairy and beef. We have conducted experiments involving 300,000 chickens in commercial farms, half receiving the product. We know it works. The market is interested, and now it’s a matter of making a product.”
