Electron beam research aims to defeat antimicrobial resistance

Developing a new method for the commercial production of anti-microbial peptide’s (AMPs) could open up a new range of opportunities for the use of bio-active peptides, the team said.

Over the last decade AMPs have delivered promising results in helping anti-infectives overcome increasing antibiotic resistance problems but have proven difficult to produce commercially.

Dubbed RADOV (‘RADiation harvesting of bioactive peptides from egg prOteins and their integration in adVanced functional products’), the four-year project features an international consortium of partners and has been awarded €2m from the European Union’s Euratom Research and Training Programme (EURATOM) Horizon Europe to carry out the research.

Heading the team from Huddersfield is Professor Robert Edgecock from the University’s School of Computing and Engineering.

“Antimicrobial peptides are small proteins present in different lifeforms in nature, or that result from enzymatic digestion of proteins, which provides these lifeforms with a natural defence against microbial infections,” he said in a statement.  “In addition to the more specific antibacterial and anti-viral actions, they have shown immune-modulatory activities, antifungal actions, anti-inflammatory properties and even possess the ability to disintegrate cancerous cell membranes.”