S(H)ARP

Streptomyces Hidden Antibiotic Regulated Pathways

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Bacteria are learning to survive the antibiotics that once cured us.

An empty blister pack, the last pill gone
Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash

This antimicrobial resistance is now one of the greatest threats to global health. However, the search for new antibiotics has almost stopped.

Chart of new antibiotic classes approved by the FDA over time, showing a sharp decline
New classes of antimicrobial drugs approved by the FDA (US)

Most antibiotics we have ever found come from a single group of soil bacteria: Streptomyces.

Streptomyces climbing a rock
Streptomyces climbing a rock. Image credit: McMaster university at https://news.mcmaster.ca/soil-bacteria-that-scale-human-equivalent-of-mount-everest-could-improve-antibiotic-treatments/.

Their genomes hide the recipes for countless molecules we have never seen. Silent, switched off.

S(H)ARP is software that reads these genomes and finds the hidden pathways other tools miss.

It follows the bacteria’s own regulators, the switches that control each pathway, mapping them from end to end.

Then we flip the switch. Using CRISPR activation, we wake these silent pathways up.

We'll turn the untapped potential of Streptomyces into the next generation of antibiotics.