NWTC Service-Learning and Civic Engagement 2017-2018 | Page 28

I M P R O V I N G H E A LT H
COMMUNITY BASED RESEARCH
Antibiotic Resistance Research
Microbiology students on the hunt
for new antibiotics
Antibiotic or antimicrobial
resistance occurs when bacteria
or viruses, sometimes called
superbugs, genetically mutate
and become immune to drugs.
According to the World Health
Organization (WHO) this
phenomenon presents “an
increasingly serious threat to
global public health that requires
action across all government
sectors and society.”
“If we don’t find new antibiotics
soon, people will once again be
dying of infections like strep
throat,” said Dr. Angelo Kolokithas,
Microbiology instructor.
As part of an international effort
to address this issue, NWTC and
over 160 colleges and universities
around the world have joined with
the Small World Initiative (SWI) in
which students perform hands-on
field and laboratory research on
soil samples in the hunt for new
antibiotics. This is particularly
relevant as over two thirds of
antibiotics come from soil
bacteria or fungi.
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Microbiology instructor, Matthew
Peterson explains, “We have
students submit their data to
an international database
sponsored by SWI, and this is
available to pharmaceutical
companies to explore further.
SWI calls it “crowd-sourcing
antibiotic discovery.”
As a lab requirement within
Microbiology coursework 130
students dug samples, cultured
microbes from those samples,
screened them for antibiotic
production, and then performed
numerous tests to identify the
microbes that worked. Upon
completion of their research, the
students compiled a final report of
their results and findings.
“This is a great opportunity for
students to be engaged in
the science community and
be their own scientist,” said
Kolokithas. He added, it
is up to the students to
find a soil sample location
and determine how to
experiment or test the
sample. The samples must be
collected in Wisconsin.
SWI is an innovative project that
allows students to be engaged
in authentic research addressing
a real-world problem and
encourages students to pursue
careers in science.
Since its inception, SWI has grown
rapidly to include more than 275
participating schools across 41 US
states and 14 countries. Fourteen
other colleges and universities in
Wisconsin are taking part in the
research with most beginning their
research in fall of 2018.