The MARGIN project aims to explore the occurrence and diversity of antibiotic resistant genes, both known and novel, and to link them to bacteria from which these genes originate. We will look for the antibiotic resistance genes in both human and environmental samples, and the findings will allow us to say something about how antibiotic resistance genes spread in the environment, and whether medication use or other causes are responsible for the increase in antimicrobial resistance we have seen during the last decades.

Many of the antibiotic resistant genes present in humans have originated in environmental bacteria outside the clinical settings. These sources are little explored, although we know that the transmission of resistance genes from the environment is important for the development of multidrug-resistant bacteria.

Access to unique time-series samples from both population-based cohorts, patient populations, and environmental samples will help us to identify essential reservoirs of antibiotic resistant genes and map geographical differences and temporal changes of antimicrobial resistance in populations and in the environment.

To explain how antimicrobial resistance transfers between environmental and human reservoirs, we will apply new and efficient screening methods together with mathematical and machine learning models. Our findings will improve antibiotic resistance surveillance in clinics, contribute to increasing knowledge among health care professionals and policymakers, and raise awareness about the need to minimize the unnecessary use of antibiotics.

The availability of samples from different sources allows for the comparison of different types of antibiotic resistant genes and how frequent they occur in different sites: oral, gut, and environmental samples from community-based populations, and samples from the lungs and gut from patient populations. In addition, time-series wastewater samples will enable us to describe changes in antibiotic resistance profiles over time.