Spring 2024-Week 2

Hi, Everyone. It's been a pretty boring week in the lab. I'm waiting for a stain called Congo Red. I hope to use it as an initial indicator for biofilm. Despite a boring lab week, I've been using the time to get homework done. I'm also in the process of looking for summer internships. This is almost harder than looking for a job. Undergraduate Internships are far and wide between, and I've taken up looking in neighboring states.

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Week 9: Interesting results

On Tuesday, I plated E. Coli and tested the effectiveness of 4 samples to kill the bacteria. The sample included , Aloe Vera gel (store bought), Windex, Tap water, and 70% Isopropyl Alcohol. This experiment was pretty much used to keep me busy as I haven't yet been able to start a project. However when I came in Wednesday, I found some interesting results. The zone of inhibition was basically 0 for every sample, including the isopropyl alcohol. Although the tap water, being the control, and the Windex doesn't jump out as a surprise to me, the 70% Alcohol does. Originally I had two hypothesis's on why this occurred. One being that because E. Coli is a gut bacteria and therefore is built to withstand alcohol. The second theory suggest user error such as the letting the alcohol evaporate to much before I was able to put the disk on the plate. Because of the results on Wednesday and with the first hypothesis in mind, I chose to do another plate instead with Staphylococcus. I ch...

Spring 2024-Week 7

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a pathogen found in dirt. It has become more commonly associated with hospital-related infections, including those such as ventilator-associated pneumonia. (Lima et al., 2017) It is also known for being particularly hard to kill because of its high intrinsic antibiotic resistance. Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus are considered two of the most prevalent pathogens in hospital-related infections. These strains of Staphylococcus usually are part of the human microbiota, and they can contaminate medical instruments and implants and cause infections. (Chessa et al., 2016) Certain strains of Staphylococcus Aureus have gained the ability to resist the antibiotic methicillin. This strain is known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). (Kot et al., 2020) Due to the increased emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, finding new ways to combat these pathogens has become essential. Their ability to form biofilms makes each of these b...

Spring 2024-Week 4

Hi Everyone, Happy Valentine's to those who celebrate. This week has been a busy week. Most of my time was spent in class and in sophomore square helping the robotics club in the Valentine's Day market. We sold a lot of 3d printed objects, one being 3D printed roses. (picture below)I'm making the final touches on my research proposal while also writing the procedure for my experiment. Unfortunately, the stuff I've been waiting for has to be reordered. This is the longest I've gone in TRAIN without doing anything for my research, which makes me a little anxious, but I know it will all come together in the end.

TRAIN Scholar Justine Horton's Blog

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