EU funds bacterial and fungi identification network
A European Union research project will establish a consortium of microbial resource centres - called EMbaRC - harmonising across Europe ways of conserving and identifying samples of organisms such as bacteria, viruses and micro-fungi.
A European Union research project will establish a consortium of microbial resource centres - called EMbaRC - harmonising across Europe ways of conserving and identifying samples of organisms such as bacteria, viruses and micro-fungi.
The Euro 4.1m project will also establish a DNA bank and improve DNA preservation techniques for such microbials, generating potentially valuable information for the pharmaceutical industry. Institutes in Britain, Germany, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal are involved, with the project being co-ordinated by France's Institut National de Recherche Agronomique (INRA) and Institut Pasteur.
A note from the Institut Pasteur said the project would focus in particular on freeze-drying and freezing micro-organisms. They will also be looking for bacteria pre-antibiotic era, to assess how these drugs have influenced their evolution.