Mini-labs to track and treat superbugs sent to AMR ‘blind spots’

Scientists at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have created a “compact, transportable, affordable” mini-lab to help medics diagnose and treat resistant bacterial infections – such as sepsis, urinary tract infections and tuberculosis. 

Dr Jean-Baptiste Ronat, an MSF microbiologist who has led the mini-lab project, said his team has effectively squeezed a hi-tech laboratory into six containers. This takes two days to set up and needs a space no larger than 20 square metres. The NGO offers two to three months of onsite training so local lab technicians can run and maintain the kit.