The focus of the Veterinary Biotechnology group is to look at strategies for improved disease control – mainly in avian species – through prevention, treatment, and biosecurity. Due to the improper use of antibiotics, resistance is now a growing concern. Thus, many current research activities have been on alternative treatment options in a post-antibiotic era, including work on bacteriophage therapy and the expression of bacteriophage enzymes. The expression of antibody fragments and short peptides also forms part of this research drive.
Recently, resistance to disinfectants has become known, jeopardising biosecurity measures. To overcome this, we need to understand the mechanisms of bacterial resistance to disinfectants by studying the genome and transcriptomes of these organisms.
In addition to antibiotic and disinfectant resistance, vaccine breaks often occur mainly due to new strains (such as with SARS-CoV-2) or serovars, thereby impeding prevention strategies. To address this, our group is looking at developing new generation vaccines, focusing on sub-unit vaccines recombinantly expressed in our patented yeast-based expression system. These vaccines are for use against viral and bacterial infections of avian species, including Escherichia coli, beak and feather disease virus, infectious bronchitis virus, Avibacterium paragallinarum, and SARS-CoV-2.