Booth Id:
MCRO007
Category:
Microbiology
Year:
2021
Finalist Names:
Calimaran, Abigail (School: St. Andrew's Episcopal School)
Abstract:
The widespread use of antibiotic treatment and resulting crisis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has led scientists to explore alternative treatments for bacterial infections. Bacteriophages are viruses that kill bacteria, and phage therapy may prove to be a useful treatment for antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. The goal of this study was to explore treatments for antibiotic-resistant bacteria using Escheria coli strain MM294 with an ampicillin-resistant phenotype as a model. The E. coli was cultured with three different treatments: antibiotic (kanamycin), bacteriophage (Coliphage T4), and combination therapy (kanamycin and Coliphage T4). The results of this study indicate that alternative antibiotic treatment remains the most effective treatment for single-drug-resistance in bacterial infections. Future studies are needed to assess the efficacy of different dilutions of the bacteriophage and the efficacy of treatments against a multidrug-resistant bacterial culture.