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Citizen science to raise antimicrobial resistance awareness in the community: the micromundo project in Spain and Portugal

Abstract: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a global threat to human, animal and environmental health. Among the multidisciplinary tasks aimed at collectively tackling the AMR crisis, surveillance, research and education stand as major priorities. Based on a crowdsourcing research strategy, the MicroMundo project, a partner of the Tiny Earth initiative in Spain and Portugal, has been developed and consolidated with success in the academic environment. The objectives are focused on promoting research and, especially, on bringing knowledge of One Health and microbiology concepts, as well as AMR awareness to the community. Following a service-learning approach, MicroMundo integrates university and secondary/high school students in a citizen science-based research project to collectively isolate microorganisms with the potential to produce new antibiotics from soil environments. Over the last 7 years, 32 MicroMundo hubs operating across 31 different Portuguese and Spanish universities have recruited thousands of teenagers in this quest. Here we review the outcome of this unprecedented effort from a scientific and an educational perspective.

 Authorship: Gil-Serna J., Antunes P., Campoy S., Cid Á., Cobo-Molinos A., Durão P., Fajardo C., Fouz B., Freitas A.R., Grosso F., de Groot P.W.J., de Miguel T., Zorn B.G., Hinojosa B., Leão M.J., Llagostera M., de Llanos R., Lucía A., Maicas S., Marín I., Martínez-Cañamero M., Miranda C., Molina-Guijarro J.M., Moreno D.A., de los Llanos Palop M., Pérez-Álvarez M.J., Pereira P.M., Pérez-Gracia M.T., Quinteira S., Rioboo C., Robredo B., Rodríguez-C

 Fuente: Microbial Biotechnology, 2025, 18(3), e70123

 Year of publication: 2025

 No. of pages: 14

 Publication type: Article

 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.70123

 ISSN: 1751-7915

 Spanish project: FECYT CT-17-12215 f

 Publication Url: https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.70123

Authorship

GIL SERNA, JESSICA

ANTUNES, PATRICIA

CAMPOY, SUSANA

CID, ÁNGELES

COBO MOLINOS, ANTONIO

DURÃO, PAULO

FAJARDO, CARMEN

FOUZ, BELÉN

FREITAS, ANA R.

GROSSO, FILIPA

GROOT, PIET W J DE

DE MIGUEL, TRINIDAD

GONZÁLEZ ZORN, BRUNO

HINOJOSA, BELÉN

JOÃO LEÃO, MARIA

LLAGOSTERA, MONTSERRAT

DE LLANOS, ROSA

LUCÍA, AINHOA