TRI-PARTITE: IMPROVED PIG HEALTH THROUGH THE NOVEL APPLICATION OF SYNBIO IN PHAGE THERAPY. (PHAGE SUAS)

Our long-term goals are to improve pig welfare and farm sustainability to ultimately benefit consumer health. The rationale that underlies this research program is that its successful completion will lead to novel antimicrobial strategies independent of antibiotics, which can be applied in both agriculture and human medicine. Ouroverarching hypothesis is that delivery of engineered phages, or phage-products, will kill Streptococcus suis, and will lay a foundation for novel treatment strategies of S. suis infections in pigs. To accomplish our objectives, we will combine functional analysis of S. suis-derived phage genomes with the latest synthetic biology approaches to develop next-generation probiotics to deliver engineered phages and phage products. To accomplish our objectives, we have assembled an international team of specialists from Ireland, Northern Ireland and the USA, each with a proven track record in their respective research area, and who have previously worked together.