Start Date
28-4-2022 12:00 PM
Document Type
Poster
Description
Antimicrobial resistance has been a rampant threat due to our diminishing supply of effective antibiotics; so much so that the World Health Organization has declared it part of the top ten global public health threats facing humanity. However, by exploring the environment around us, new antibiotic-producing microorganisms may be found. Guided by the Tiny Earth Network, my research has culminated in the isolation of a promising bacterial species (dubbed “Rhenium”). The project began at a park, digging up the soil. My soil sample went through serial dilution to calculate the number of bacteria found in one gram of its soil, and to find candidates for further testing. Screening candidates with challenge plates, eventually two candidates were found: Rhenium and Uranium. I continued further research with Rhenium and found it to be a Gram-negative bacillus-shaped bacteria. My final candidate, Rhenium, successfully exhibits resistance to all six relatives of the “ESKAPE pathogens,” bacterial species that cause a majority of the antibiotic-resistant infections in healthcare settings.
The Wealth of Soil: Searching for Antibiotics
Antimicrobial resistance has been a rampant threat due to our diminishing supply of effective antibiotics; so much so that the World Health Organization has declared it part of the top ten global public health threats facing humanity. However, by exploring the environment around us, new antibiotic-producing microorganisms may be found. Guided by the Tiny Earth Network, my research has culminated in the isolation of a promising bacterial species (dubbed “Rhenium”). The project began at a park, digging up the soil. My soil sample went through serial dilution to calculate the number of bacteria found in one gram of its soil, and to find candidates for further testing. Screening candidates with challenge plates, eventually two candidates were found: Rhenium and Uranium. I continued further research with Rhenium and found it to be a Gram-negative bacillus-shaped bacteria. My final candidate, Rhenium, successfully exhibits resistance to all six relatives of the “ESKAPE pathogens,” bacterial species that cause a majority of the antibiotic-resistant infections in healthcare settings.
Comments
The faculty mentor for this project was Angela Consani, Biology.