A RACE AGAINST TIME: ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE IN THE FOOD CHAIN

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Interview with Annamari Heikinheimo, University Lecturer, Division of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health  

Annamari Heikinheimo studies antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the ability of some microbes to fight drugs such as antibiotics. This is a phenomenon parallel to climate change in severity. Resistance develops at an accelerating rate because antibiotics are used so much in today’s world.  

 I meet Annamari in a coffee room in the EE building in Viikki. A PhD student is tapping away on a PC in the corner. ”We need the space”, Annamari says matter-of-factly, and with the same tone continues: ”In 2050, we’ll all know people who have died of infections immune to any medicine. Then, more people will die of these superinfections than of cancer”. We will have entered a post-antibiotic era, she says.  

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Käyntikortti = arpalippu

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Osallistuin lokakuun alussa London Business Schoolin Jeff Skinnerin ja Stanfordin yliopiston Michael Shanksin yhteiseen tilaisuuteen liittyen yrittäjyyteen.  Erityisesti tapetilla oli tutkimukseen perustuva yrittäjyys.

Tutkijalle yrittäjän rooli voi olla vaikea. Tutkijaa mietityttää, onko tieteen tekeminen tärkeämpää kuin rahan tekeminen. Roolit eivät kuitenkaan ole toisensa poissulkevia. Tieteen saavutusten vieminen käytäntöön, voi johtaa rahan ansaitsemiseen. Tämä tie on usein yhtä vaikea kuin akateeminen meritoituminenkin.

Keskustelussa dominoivaksi teemaksi nousi verkostoituminen. Ilman sopivia suhteita on vaikea päästä eteenpäin tieteessä, mutta myös business-maailmassa. Kun tuntee oikeat ihmiset, saa tukea ja apua työhönsä. Tiedemaailmassa yksinpakertaja jää helposti sosiaalisten verkostoitujien jalkoihin. Yhteistyökumppanit löydetään kongresseissa tai verkostoitumisalustojen kautta. Parhaat ideat syntyvät monesti monitieteisessä ympäristössä.

Seminaarin parhaan puheen piti Andre Krouwel. Tämä valtiotieteilijä kehitti puolivahingossa vaalikoneen tutkimuskäyttöön, mutta vähitellen sen ympärille kasvoikin yritys Kieskompas. Krouwel heitti: ”Luck will come with the connections”. Käyntikortti on kuin arpalippu. Jos joku antaa sinulle sellaisen, se kannattaa ottaa aina vastaan. Jokainen arpa ei voita, mutta jos et osallistu, et voi myöskään voittaa. Mitä enemmän verkostoidut, sitä todennäköisemmin joku kohtaamistasi ihmisistä voi auttaa sinua oikealla hetkellä.

When companies work with scientists, they want the truth

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Interview with Outi Vainio, Professor of Veterinary Pharmacology
Department of Equine and Small Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

 “I study dogs but I’m actually a cat person” exclaims Outi Vainio in her office located at the small animal hospital in Viikki. “We have over 800 000 dogs in our homes in Finland and only now have we started to scientifically understand them. Dogs have become important members of our society and they have a very close bond with humans. During our convergent evolution, dogs have evolved to read humans and understand our signals. This is something that usually only primates can do and it makes dog behavior a very interesting topic for research. So even though I personally like cats, dogs are still amazing to study.”

What kind of experience do you have in business collaboration?

“The roots of my career go back to the pharmaceutical industry where I studied and developed new veterinary medicine drugs. This was many years ago but some of the sedative drugs I developed back then are still on the market today. As a result of this long career in the private sector, it is easy for me to work with businesses as I understand the business language as well as their way of thinking”, Outi explains.

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FROM ECOLOGY IN A BOX TO REDUCING FOOD WASTE

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Interview with Johanna Björkroth, professor, Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Packaged food is a man-made ecological niche for spoilage bacteria. The microbial community within it follows ecological succession, a phenomenon more familiar to most of us in the context of a forest: the process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time. A slice of fresh meat is home to a million species of bacteria, approximately 10 000 individuals per gram. This microbial community begins to grow the minute the meat is packaged in protective gas. The carbon dioxide atmosphere inside the package blocks the growth of 90% of the species. When the food is spoiled, there are 100 million microbes per gram but only less than a thousand microbial species have grown. Because the food is stored at cool temperatures, the remaining species are cold-tolerant lactic acid bacteria, enterobacteria and a few others.

I meet Johanna Björkroth, award-winning professor of food hygiene, in her room on a summer day on Viikki campus. What is so exciting about spoiled vegetables and meat?

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