Introduction

Our research involves analysing resistance frequencies in pathogenic bacteria using an agent-based computer modelling approach. The increase of antimicrobial drug resistance in pathogenic bacteria is now considered to be one of the major problems in human medicine. Among the responses to this increasing global public health threat, the modelling of the rate of resistance development and conversely of the decline in resistance, once the selecting antibiotic is removed from the environment, will play a significant role in preserving and extending the useful life of antibacterial drugs.

Micro-Gen Bacterial Simulator

A software model, called the "Micro-Gen Bacterial Simulator", was developed at the Centre for Scientific Computing & Complex Systems Modelling (SCI-SYM) in Dublin City University, Ireland. Its aim is to provide a theoretical framework for investigating the growth and development of bacterial colonies and their interactions with antibiotics. The project has been carried out in close collaboration with Dr. Marc Devocelle at the Centre for Synthesis and Chemical Biology in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin, and his collaborators from the Clinical Microbiology laboratory at Beaumont hospital, Dublin, Ireland.