Oxford animal-only antibiotic lab could prop up intensive farming, critics say
Written by Sophie Kevany
New research centre to tackle overlap of livestock and human medicines, but campaigners fear “techno-fix” for factory farming
An initiative to develop bespoke antibiotics for livestock has raised fears that it could be a “techno-fix” for more intensive farming.
Mixed reactions have followed news that Ineos, a global petrochemical manufacturer, has donated £100m to establish the Ineos Oxford University Institute (IOI) for antimicrobial research.
The institute said it would focus on designing novel antimicrobials solely for animals because the majority of global antibiotic consumption by volume was in agriculture, and antibiotic use in animals was contributing significantly to their lessening effectiveness in humans.
Related: How can you support farmers who are using fewer antibiotics?
Continue reading...
Since you’re here …
… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.
If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. Support the Guardian – it only takes a minute. Thank you.
