‘Kryptonite’ for superbug

Fungi in our forests campaign aims to raise $250,000 to support critical research

The world’s next big antibiotic could lie hidden in our native fungi — and scientists have turned to Kiwis for the quarter of a million dollars needed to help find it.

The Cure Kids-backed effort comes at a time when antibiotic resistance is posing one of the greatest public health threats of the modern age.

Each year, an estimated 700,000 people around the world die from drug-resistant infections, and this is predicted to rise to 10 million people a year by 2050.

The “Fight Against Superbugs” campaign aims to raise $250,000 to support critical research by scientists at the University of Auckland who will study 1000 fungi held in a col- lection by Landcare Research.

Fungi are a proven source of antibiotics, such as penicillin, and most antibiotics in clinical use are from soil microbes.

Well-known microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles, who heads the university’s Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab, and her team aim to mine prioritised fungi from the collection of 10,000 over the next year to identify pathogen-fighting properties.

The results of the work to date are promising — Wiles’ team have piloted the approach, screening 300 fungi, using a cultivated form of bacteria that’s been engineered to glow when alive.

When the bacteria stop glowing, this signals potential antimicrobial qualities in the fungi which then undergo more tests.

“We’re really hopeful that we will make rapid progress in our search for new antibiotics.”

Children are at increased risk and more vulnerable to infectious diseases.

“We are particularly hopeful we will identify fungi that are able to kill the bacteria responsible for many of the serious diseases rife in New Zealand such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).”

New Zealand has some of the highest rates of infectious diseases in the developed world.

This is coupled with high rates of antibiotic consumption.

Infectious diseases, such as MRSA, can cause skin, respiratory and bloodstream infections.

Most at risk of this potential killer are children under five and people over 65.

“We are running out of time, we need to find a solution,” Wiles said.

In her new book Antibiotic Resistance — The End of Modern Medicine?, which explores the threat to humans, agriculture and animals from superbugs and antibiotic resistance, Wiles said antimicrobial resistance threatened to undo many of the medical achievements of the last century. But somewhere out there in New Zealand’s unique environment, she believed, lay the fungi that could give the world a new powerful drug.

“We’ve found a heap of fungi that kill our glowing bacteria and are all ready to go for further testing, and we’ve got more fungi being identified every week. “It’s just a numbers game . . . how many fungi will we need to screen? This is where the crowdfunding comes in.”

Those who give certain amounts will receive special rewards: a $30 donation sees the donor receive the chance to nickname one of the fungi being tested; a $50 donation receives a limited edition print from New Zealand artist Otis Frizzell; a $100 donation will give the donor a glowing bacteria art kit.

Pledges of more than $1000 will give the donor an opportunity to take part in a one-hour bioluminescent session (painting with glowing bacteria) with Wiles.