From Sample to Solution: The Smash Study
Location
CoLab, COM 241
Start Date
30-4-2026 12:00 PM
Document Type
Poster
Description
Research towards discovering new bacteria that can inhibit harmful pathogens is crucial for finding future treatment options, especially since antibiotic resistance is a growing global health threat. I collected a soil sample from the Stonepost Lakeside Apartment environment because everyday locations like apartment complexes can contain diverse soil microbes that may produce antibiotic compounds, while still being safe and accessible. Over the semester, I used serial dilutions of my soil, created a master plate of isolated colonies, and repeatedly screened twelve candidates against six different safe relatives of the ESKAPE pathogens. So far, most isolates have not inhibited the test strains, but three of my candidates have shown positive results. I have identified my final candidate, “Smash”, using a combined genetic and metabolic approach, and this work contributes to the broader Tiny Earth effort to discover new antibiotic-producing bacteria from local soil.
Image
From Sample to Solution: The Smash Study
CoLab, COM 241
Research towards discovering new bacteria that can inhibit harmful pathogens is crucial for finding future treatment options, especially since antibiotic resistance is a growing global health threat. I collected a soil sample from the Stonepost Lakeside Apartment environment because everyday locations like apartment complexes can contain diverse soil microbes that may produce antibiotic compounds, while still being safe and accessible. Over the semester, I used serial dilutions of my soil, created a master plate of isolated colonies, and repeatedly screened twelve candidates against six different safe relatives of the ESKAPE pathogens. So far, most isolates have not inhibited the test strains, but three of my candidates have shown positive results. I have identified my final candidate, “Smash”, using a combined genetic and metabolic approach, and this work contributes to the broader Tiny Earth effort to discover new antibiotic-producing bacteria from local soil.
Comments
The faculty mentor for this project was Heather Seitz.