Uma Siddhanta

Biography

M.Sc., Ph.D.

Research Interest

‘Multiple drug resistance’ is threatening the future continual use of antibiotics. Attempts to fix this problem will definitely include search for new antibiotics and modification of the existing or the newly discovered antibiotics. But these will turn out to be a temporary fix until and unless more is learned about antibiotic resistance – its origins and evolution. Soil-dwelling actinomycetes are probably the most relevant class of microorganisms to expand our knowledge on soil resistome. Most clinically relevant antibiotics originate from them. Consequently they, as a group, possess a myriad of antibiotics evasion strategies. My research interest is directed at sampling the soil antibiotic resistome - an under-recognized reservoir for resistance genes that has already emerged or has the potential to emerge in clinically important bacteria. The study could provide an early warning system for future clinically relevant antibiotic resistance mechanisms and serve as a foundation for new antibiotic development.