Antibiotic Discovery

The purpose of our research was to produce antibiotic resistance of microbes and create an antibiotic from bacteria and various experiments. Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria and fungi develop the ability to fight the drugs made to kill them. Antibiotics act as chemical weapons to harm soil bacteria and protect microbes. During this semester we worked on discovering a possible antibiotic from a soil microbe. We wanted to create an antibiotic produced by bacteria to kill other kinds of bacteria without harming themselves. I took a soil sample from my backyard, diluted it, and tested it frequently. I chose soil from this location because it received a lot of sunlight and was close to the side of my house where we keep our trashcan. Soil samples can contain lots of bacteria but are typically non-pathogenic. We were able to find the number of cultivating bacterial cells present in our soil samples. Different potential candidates were found and tested on master plates and streak plates to isolate single colonies. Antibiotic screenings were performed to show which candidates inhibited bacterial species that are medically important. Certain candidates were positive and negative towards the pathogens and further tested. I identified a single colony that could have potential for discovering an antibiotic. The colony will undergo the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), gram staining, other experiments, and an antibiotic will be identified and characterized. By performing these experiments and recording data, we will have isolated a colony from a possible candidate to discover an antibody.