Game-changing new technology could reduce need for antibiotics in pigs - and humans

Research carried out on pigs at the University of Leicester could open the door to a ‘game-changing’ new approach to tackling disease in humans and animals that reduces the global need for antibiotics.

The study, funded by AHDB Pork and unveiled at the Pigs 2022 conference in Solihull this week, is based on the discovery of an organism able to target harmful bacteria and leave ‘good’ bacteria intact in pigs.

Professor Martha Clokie and her team at the University of Leicester isolated 20 bacteriophages – or bacterial viruses – that target 72 strains of potentially drug-resistant bacteria that can cause gut problems in pigs.

For more on this story, see Pig World