Digging for Potential Antibiotics for Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogens
Location
CoLab, OCB 100
Start Date
27-4-2018 9:00 AM
Document Type
Poster
Description
There is growing concern in the rise of antibiotic resistant pathogens and the decrease in new antibiotic production from pharmaceutical companies. Antibiotics are small molecules produced by a microbe that kill or inhibit the growth of other microbes. Antibiotics are generally derived from natural sources, such as soil, it is expensive for pharmaceutical companies to research these drugs when resistance is likely to develop. Moreover, other types of medications, such as blood pressure medications, provide a continuous source of revenue with little risk of becoming obsolete due to any resistance. My research project aims to identify a new antibiotic-producing microbe. To accomplish this, a soil sample was collected, and bacterial colonies that are shown to inhibit growth of other colonies were isolated. Once these candidates were isolated, I performed antibiotic testing against safe relatives of the ESKAPE pathogens (six microorganisms that cause major illnesses and have developed antibiotic resistance). One candidate will then be characterized and identified. To identify the candidate, staining, sequencing, and metabolic and biochemical tests will be performed. This project hopes to aid in the search for new antibiotics.
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Digging for Potential Antibiotics for Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogens
CoLab, OCB 100
There is growing concern in the rise of antibiotic resistant pathogens and the decrease in new antibiotic production from pharmaceutical companies. Antibiotics are small molecules produced by a microbe that kill or inhibit the growth of other microbes. Antibiotics are generally derived from natural sources, such as soil, it is expensive for pharmaceutical companies to research these drugs when resistance is likely to develop. Moreover, other types of medications, such as blood pressure medications, provide a continuous source of revenue with little risk of becoming obsolete due to any resistance. My research project aims to identify a new antibiotic-producing microbe. To accomplish this, a soil sample was collected, and bacterial colonies that are shown to inhibit growth of other colonies were isolated. Once these candidates were isolated, I performed antibiotic testing against safe relatives of the ESKAPE pathogens (six microorganisms that cause major illnesses and have developed antibiotic resistance). One candidate will then be characterized and identified. To identify the candidate, staining, sequencing, and metabolic and biochemical tests will be performed. This project hopes to aid in the search for new antibiotics.
Comments
The faculty supervisor for this project was Jon Kniss, Biology.