In my introduction, I will discuss a bacterial diversity and antibiotic resistance. I will then go on to describe our experiments and results. I will then finish with a brief discussion of our results and my thoughts. .
Introduction:.
Bacterial diversity and the evolution of antibiotic resistance is an amazing topic in the field of biology. Bacteria are some of the most minuscule living organisms on our planet, yet some yield the power to sicken or even kill an organism as large and complex as humans. Other bacteria are essential to our survival. Bacteria are practically capable of living in every environment on the planet. They live in, on, and around each and every human. Their short lives and fast mutation rates create interesting problems for scientists trying to study them. Bacteria have a fast reproduction rates, and the ability the pass genetic information very quickly through plastids. .
Our interaction with bacteria in the form of antibiotics creates a whole new realm of problems. Antibiotics are substances that fight infections caused by bacteria. Because of bacteria's fast rate of evolutionary change, they are very well at creating an antibiotic resistance, which is the ability of bacteria to synthesize a protein that neutralizes an antibiotic, rendering the antibiotic ineffective. After a bacterium becomes resistant to multiple antibiotics, there is not much we can do to combat it, which may lead to serious or fatal infections. Bacteria that are harmless to one individual may be life threatening to another with an immune system deficiency. We used ampicillin as the antibiotic in our experiment.
We tested bacteria growth in various stages of rancid milk, E. coli's antibiotic resistance to various strengths of ampicillin, and our own experiment of the comparison of bacteria from the light switch and the rim of a trash can. Bacteria can be observed by viewing colonies with the naked eye.
