Bringing bird poop to school is usually frowned upon, but a Chicago middle school student is being praised for “.Genuine biomedical scientist“After a student delivered a special piece of goose poop to the science club.
Under the supervision of researchers at the University of Illinois, the student carefully isolated bacteria with antibiotic activity from goose droppings.
The natural compounds produced by this bacterium are completely new to science and have shown cancer-fighting properties in the lab.
With all these pathogens, it’s not safe to touch bird droppings with your bare hands, especially during a national bird flu pandemic, but in this particular case, students were able to fulfill their scientific mission. It was tinged.
They were part of a 14-week educational support program designed to accelerate scientists’ careers through hands-on experience.
The initiative was designed to involve young learners in the search for new antibiotics, and as part of the project, students were asked to explore their neighborhood in search of new bioactive compounds.
The children were then taught how to safely grow the bacteria and select colonies for further evaluation by university scientists.
Students who brought in goose feces were able to isolate a type of Gram-negative bacteria. Pseudomonas genus idahonensis. In the lab, researchers found that this bacterium can inhibit the growth of Gram-positive bacteria by more than 90 percent. bacterial species May cause skin infections.
“Efforts are underway to identify the compounds responsible for the initial antibiotic activity observed,” the research team said. I will write In a published and peer-reviewed paper on this discovery.
The middle school student who found the bird droppings is listed as a co-author.
of Pseudomonas genus In addition to exhibiting antibiotic properties, this bacterium also produced a new natural product called orfamide N, which had never been discovered by scientists before. Previously discovered orfamide is known to have the following effects: Useful medical propertiesSo the team investigated this further.
In the lab, orfamide N slowed the growth of melanoma cells and ovarian cancer cells.
Scientists are desperately searching for new drugs as dangerous bacteria around the world develop resistance to today’s abundance of antibiotics. The natural world is one of the best places. Looking for antibacterial compounds.
Discovery of natural antibiotics reached the peak However, since then, this type of drug development has declined dangerously.
Fortunately, nature still has many secrets, and some of these unknowns may help fight major health problems such as bacterial infections and cancer.
However, when new antibiotics are discovered, It takes years of testing. And the failure rate is also high. Of the 14 environmental samples collected in Chicago, only one showed evidence of antibiotic activity, which may not survive future studies.
Getting the next generation excited about antibiotic discovery is a long game, but scientists at the University of Illinois are say Their recent success stories show that “it is possible to integrate educational support programs and the discovery of premium natural products.”
This study ACS Omega.
