Combating the War on Pathogens
Location
CoLab, OCB 100
Start Date
27-4-2018 9:00 AM
Document Type
Poster
Description
In a time of anti-bacterial solutions, and disinfectants, society is approaching a potentially very deadly future. Over the last 90 years, society has transitioned from discovering antibiotics, to fighting infectious, highly antibiotic resistant, and deadly pathogens. Over the last several decades there has been a marked decrease in pharmaceutical research; the time and money that was being spent on discovering new antibiotics is now being diverted to other enterprises. However, what we have unintentionally created, is a world full of pathogens which are becoming increasingly difficult to combat. If future research does not produce new antibiotics quickly, we could be on the brink of entering a post-antibiotic period. In this situation it would be entirely possible for death to come from your run of the mill scrape on the knee or office papercut. This research project is attempting to spur the establishment towards taking this threat seriously and ramping up the search for undiscovered micro-organisms that inhibit pathogens which have a propensity for genetic mutation. Using the guidelines of the Small World Initiative, an unknown bacteria, collected from a soil sample, found in a Harrisonville, MO backyard; was diluted and cultivated in a petri dish, searching for candidates which may inhibit the growth of pathogens. DNA was sequenced to determine if the sample was known or a truly new species that could aid in further development of antibiotics that have the potential to combat the many antibiotic resistant bacteria wreaking havoc on the world today.
Image
Combating the War on Pathogens
CoLab, OCB 100
In a time of anti-bacterial solutions, and disinfectants, society is approaching a potentially very deadly future. Over the last 90 years, society has transitioned from discovering antibiotics, to fighting infectious, highly antibiotic resistant, and deadly pathogens. Over the last several decades there has been a marked decrease in pharmaceutical research; the time and money that was being spent on discovering new antibiotics is now being diverted to other enterprises. However, what we have unintentionally created, is a world full of pathogens which are becoming increasingly difficult to combat. If future research does not produce new antibiotics quickly, we could be on the brink of entering a post-antibiotic period. In this situation it would be entirely possible for death to come from your run of the mill scrape on the knee or office papercut. This research project is attempting to spur the establishment towards taking this threat seriously and ramping up the search for undiscovered micro-organisms that inhibit pathogens which have a propensity for genetic mutation. Using the guidelines of the Small World Initiative, an unknown bacteria, collected from a soil sample, found in a Harrisonville, MO backyard; was diluted and cultivated in a petri dish, searching for candidates which may inhibit the growth of pathogens. DNA was sequenced to determine if the sample was known or a truly new species that could aid in further development of antibiotics that have the potential to combat the many antibiotic resistant bacteria wreaking havoc on the world today.
Comments
The faculty supervisor for this project was Jamie Cunningham, Biology.