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For the third consecutive year, the MicroMundo@UniZar project is launched, coinciding with the week of awareness about the use of antibiotics
The objective of the project is to spread the word about the importance of antibiotics in our lives, and to discover environmental bacteria that produce antibiotics in Aragon.
The University of Zaragoza launches, for the third consecutive year, the MicroMundo project, promoted by researchers Ainhoa Lucía (project coordinator) and José Antonio Aínsa, both from the D2AMR research team (Discovery and Development of Antimicrobials and Resistance Mechanisms) of the Department of Microbiology.
The Covid-19 pandemic has prevented the MicroMundo project from being brought to secondary and high school centers in the autonomous community, but on this occasion MicroMundo@UniZar has been carried out with second-year students of the Degree in Biotechnology at the University of Zaragoza, who They have already found more than 20 antibiotic-producing microorganisms. It is also being carried out in the Cesar laboratories of Etopia (cesar-etopia.bifi.es) disseminating the WHO message on the rational use of antibiotics among the youngest in the “Diwok Classrooms”.
The MicroMundo activity arose in Spain as a result of the American initiatives Small World Initiative (SWI) and Tiny Earth, and is being developed simultaneously in almost 30 universities in our country since 2016. Its main objectives are to discover new antibiotics produced by environmental microorganisms emulating Fleming's famous discovery, and at the same time spreading awareness about the serious problem of antibiotic resistance.
The MicroMundo sessions at the University of Zaragoza will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 13:00 p.m. during November 16 to 19, November 23 to 26, November 30 to December 3, and December 15 to 18. MicroWorld sessions in Etopia will take place on Wednesdays from 17:00 p.m. to 19:30 p.m. throughout the academic year.
This launch coincides with the European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD), promoted by the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) and with the world awareness week on the use of antibiotics. antibiotics, the World Antibiotic Awareness Week (WAAW) with the support of the World Health Organization. The objectives of the EAAD and the WAAW are to increase information and awareness about the global problem of antibiotic resistance, and to encourage their correct use to try to stop the increase and spread of resistance.
Since the discovery of penicillin, antibiotics have been a key part of modern medicine thanks to their ability to control infections caused by bacteria. However, its excessive or inappropriate use has favored the emergence and distribution of resistance, which occurs when bacteria become insensitive to the antimicrobials used in their treatment.
According to data from a study by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), infections by antibiotic-resistant bacteria cause 33.000 deaths each year in Europe, of which 3.000 occur in Spain according to data from the National Plan for Disease Prevention and Control. Antibiotic Resistance, highlighting the need to work against the global problem of resistance.
