Antimicrobial Resistance: The Small World/ Tiny Earth Initiative
Abstract
Since the beginning of the spring 2020 semester, our Elementary Microbiology lab class has been
participating in the Small World Initiative and the Tiny Earth Program. These programs involve over 300
schools globally who are helping to discover new antibiotics. The Small World Initiative started in 2012
at Yale then Tiny Earth followed in its footsteps and was officially launched in 2018. The Tiny Earth
initiative is head quartered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Throughout history, plant
compounds have served people as medicine. Ancient people used plants as medicine. To participate in
this program, we had to follow very direct steps provided by our lab instructor. We dug up soil from
Penn State Schuylkill’s backyard, diluted and plated it, then chose which bacteria we wanted to continue
testing. We wanted to test to see if our bacteria would produce antibiotic compounds against other
bacteria. Tests were also performed to aid in the identification of the antibiotic producing bacteria,
which included staining, selective and differential media, biochemical tests (such as fermentation tests,
enzyme production, nutrient utilization), and antibiotic susceptibility testing. With the results from these
tests, we will be able to further our understanding of our selected bacteria and determine if new
antibiotics were found.
Poster
Presentation
Mini Bio
Future registered nurse for tiny humans looking for a new antibiotic to save others!