Soil Bacteria That Can Help Stop Strong Germs

Antibiotic resistance is a big problem in the world today. Many bad bacteria, like the ESKAPE pathogens, do not get killed by normal antibiotics. This means that people can get sick, and the medicine won’t work. Scientists are trying to find new antibiotics to help stop this problem. One way to do that is by looking at bacteria from soil. In this project, I collected soil samples and used a dilution method to grow different bacteria on petri dishes. This was called the master plate. After the bacteria grew, we looked for ones that could stop the growth of other bacteria. I also tested bacteria from a hand washing experiment to compare how many types of bacteria are found on skin. From the master plate, I found one special kind of bacteria that created a clear area around it. This means it may be making something that kills or stops other bacteria from growing. This bacterium is Gram-positive, which means it has a thick cell wall, and it also makes spores. These are strong forms that can survive hard conditions. This project is important because soil bacteria could be a source of new antibiotics. Our soil bacteria might help fight against bacteria that are becoming harder to treat with normal medicine. We need to do more tests to know for sure, but this is a good first step.