The world is losing the battle against bacteria and is running out of effective antibiotics…but can maggots save the human race?
In this episode, Biomedical Scientist, Professor Yamni Nigam, discusses her research into wounds and antimicrobial resistance. Yamni talks about using maggots to combat the antimicrobial crisis and heal infected wounds while working to overcome the “yuck factor” associated with these creepy-crawly medical powerhouses.
Yamni Nigam is an Associate Professor in Biomedical Science at Swansea University’s College of Human and Health Sciences. She lectures in anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology and her specialist teaching subjects include digestion, blood, immunology, microbiology, parasitology and wounds (infection and healing).
In 2001, Yamni set up the Swansea Maggot Research Group, which focuses on the medicinal maggot, Lucilia sericata, and the molecules involved in larval therapy. She and her team have undertaken numerous investigations and published their findings primarily on the antimicrobial activity of larval secretions, and wound-healing molecules associated with this insect.
In 2016, Yamni launched the Love a Maggot campaign to try and change the negative perception of maggots in society and raise awareness of the use of living maggots as a clinical treatment to help clear and heal chronic wounds.
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