18 Jun 2024 — The Skan Research Trust, India and the Quadram Institute Bioscience, UK, have joined forces to apply the TraDIS-Xpress platform to study the action of traditional medical compounds on bacteria. The project will take the form of a joint study that will lead to the reformulation and development of antibacterial regimens.
TraDIS-Xpress is Quadram’s proprietary genetic sequencing platform, which uncovers new antimicrobial agents that play a crucial role in creating better prebiotics and probiotics.
“The three-year project will also study the mechanisms of drug resistance for key pathogens relevant to India and the action of selected food additives used in India on the growth of selected gut microbes,” says Dr. Yogesh Shouche, deputy director at Skan.
Meanwhile, as people worldwide live increasingly longer lives and want to remain active and independent as they age, experts underscore the critical role of gut health for healthy aging and its impact on the maintenance of cognitive vitality and independence.
Technological collaboration
The project is part of a larger comprehensive partnership agreement between the two organizations, which have ongoing international collaborations focused on gut health and developing gut microbial therapies to alleviate aging and neurological diseases like Parkinson’s.
A key aspect of the partnership is using the latest technologies in the study of the gut microbiome to improve Indian research capabilities. Skan researchers will be trained on the TraDIS-Xpress platform at the Quadram Institute in Norwich Research Park.
This will facilitate the generation of data from large Indian cohorts to help develop India-specific therapies. This data generation method will also speed up the platform’s development and increase its scope of application.
“This project highlights the potential of the TraDIS-Xpress platform for identifying and understanding the genetic basis behind bacteria’s enormous capacity to adapt for survival,” says Mark Webber, group leader at the Quadram Institute Bioscience.
Alternate therapies
Skan applies its expertise in gut microbiome, genomics, stem cells, molecular biology, biomarkers, immunotherapies, nutrition and alternative therapies to find gentler treatment protocols for ailments.
The company’s bioinformatics division pursues AI, machine learning and other advanced technologies to predict, preempt, diagnose, treat and facilitate the remission of medical disorders.
“I’m excited to see the cutting-edge genomic technology and expertise we have here in Quadram supporting the Skan Research Trust to benefit the health of the people of India and further our fundamental understanding of the links between microbes and human well-being,” Ian Charles, director of Quadram Institute Bioscience.
In addition, strong consumer awareness of the impact of gut health on overall well-being opens opportunities for prebiotic fibers — food components used by bacteria. Scientific evidence on their effect on the gut and skin microbiome continues to advance, though consumer education is crucial to highlight how prebiotics differ from post- and probiotics.
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