Start Date
27-4-2023 10:30 AM
Document Type
Poster
Description
Our world is constantly evolving, so we must keep up with it in every aspect, specifically when it comes to health. A couple of years ago, we got hit by a virus we had never encountered. It is up to scientists and medical workers to evolve as well in order to protect our country and others from grave suffering. A problem the medical world faces is fighting against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. That means that when a person is sick, no medicine can help them improve because the bacteria is more powerful than any existing medication. That is why we students have taken it upon ourselves to help scientists continually search for antibiotic-resistant bacteria to fight against unstoppable microbes. Scientists make antibiotics with fermented bacteria, which is what we students have sought out through the collection of soil. Interestingly enough, soil contains many microbes that contain inhibiting properties towards other microbes because it is a highly competitive environment. I acquired twelve candidates from a soil sample I collected from Berkley Riverfront–and two from a soil sample my lab partner and I shared. I chose each of my candidates by how they inhibited other bacterial colonies (created space between themselves and others). My only promising candidates (meaning they fought against ESKAPE pathogens’ safe relatives) were Luke, which fought against Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Cameron and Olivia, who both inhibited against Enterococcus faecalis.
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The Discovery of Luke, the Bacteria
Our world is constantly evolving, so we must keep up with it in every aspect, specifically when it comes to health. A couple of years ago, we got hit by a virus we had never encountered. It is up to scientists and medical workers to evolve as well in order to protect our country and others from grave suffering. A problem the medical world faces is fighting against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. That means that when a person is sick, no medicine can help them improve because the bacteria is more powerful than any existing medication. That is why we students have taken it upon ourselves to help scientists continually search for antibiotic-resistant bacteria to fight against unstoppable microbes. Scientists make antibiotics with fermented bacteria, which is what we students have sought out through the collection of soil. Interestingly enough, soil contains many microbes that contain inhibiting properties towards other microbes because it is a highly competitive environment. I acquired twelve candidates from a soil sample I collected from Berkley Riverfront–and two from a soil sample my lab partner and I shared. I chose each of my candidates by how they inhibited other bacterial colonies (created space between themselves and others). My only promising candidates (meaning they fought against ESKAPE pathogens’ safe relatives) were Luke, which fought against Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Cameron and Olivia, who both inhibited against Enterococcus faecalis.
Comments
The faculty mentor for this project was Heather Seitz, Biology.