NC3Rs poster prize awarded at Society for General Microbiology meeting

The winning poster, entitled “Validation and applications for SNAP-tag imaging of bacterial infections,” was presented by Bethany Mills from the University of Nottingham and was chosen because of its potential to allow more information to be gained from each animal and therefore reduce the numbers of animals used in bacterial infection research. The work is scientifically advantageous and has broad applicability in infectious disease models.

The technique combines bioluminescence and novel SNAP-tag imaging. It allows for ex vivo scanning – not possible with bioluminescence imaging approaches alone – which can reveal the detailed architecture of the infection site and allow researchers to evaluate how deep an antimicrobial can penetrate, giving an indication of where the antimicrobial might be effective as a treatment.

All posters at the meeting focused on the use of models to investigate microbial disease and antimicrobial therapies. Members of the NC3Rs team judged the posters and awarded the prize on Tuesday 18 November 2014.