SBIR Phase I: A New Biotherapeutic Approach to Combating Unwanted Bacteria

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a new method for killing unwanted and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is becoming a crisis of epic proportions. Overuse and misuse of antibiotics is seen as a major cause of this problem. In June 2001, the American Medical Association went on record opposing the use of antibiotics in agriculture for "non- therapeutic" use in animals. A Public Health Action Plan, written by a federal task force, recommends that entirely new approaches are needed to go beyond the use of traditional antibiotics to employ novel anti-microbial agents that kill pathogens while minimizing the ability of the target bacteria to develop horizontally transferable resistance. The goal of this project is to develop just such a technology. The proposed technology does not incorporate traditional chemical antibiotics, but utilizes well-understood biological processes in a novel and proprietary fashion. It involves engineering harmless bacteria to kill unwanted bacteria by redundant mechanisms that will minimize the development of resistance. The commercial applications of this project are expected to be primarily in the areas of agriculture and veterinary medicine. Initial project efforts will be aimed at combatting Fire Blight (Erwinia amylovora) in fruit crops and reducing Salmonella contamination in poultry.