Projekt

Paradoxically, the introduction of antibiotics in the mid-20th century represented both a breakthrough in patient care and an accelerator for the "arms race" between host and pathogens. For pathogens, the selective pressure exerted by antibiotics led to an increase in resistance. Conversely, for the host, the depletion of beneficial microbes in and on the human body induced by antibiotics hinders the maturation of the immune system. However, it is currently unclear whether the introduction of antibiotic therapy has also influenced the actual immune response during an infection. A significant obstacle to investigating the impact of antibiotics on immunity and pathogenicity is the lack of in vivo data from both the host and the pathogen before and after the introduction of antibiotics. The research team plans to study 113 formalin-fixed lungs from tuberculosis patients to investigate both the pathogen genome and the immune response at the protein and transcriptional level, collected over the last 150 years. The objective is to elucidate the molecular signature of the "arms race" between host and pathogen over the past century for the first time by employing an interdisciplinary approach and utilizing state-of-the-art analytical techniques.

• Dr. Felix Key

  Max-Planck-Institut für
  Infektionsbiologie
  Berlin
  

• Dr. Marie-Laure Yaspo

  Max-Planck-Institut für molekulare
  Genetik
  Berlin
  

• Dr. Christina Warinner

  Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre
  Anthropologie
  Leipzig