Antibiotics From Soil
Abstract
The Small World initiative tackles two very important issues, the STEM shortage and
antimicrobial resistance. Antibiotic resistance refers to germs defeating the antibiotics that are
supposed to kill them and can also be defined as “antimicrobial resistance” (“About Antibiotic
Resistance”, 2020). Antimicrobial resistance has been a problem for a long time, but the threat
increases the longer it goes unnoticed by the general public. It is caused by many things
including people not following antibiotic instructions, other general misuse, and too many
prescriptions for it. Through the course of a semester, a number of Penn State Schuylkill students
focused on this issue by performing a series of tests on the microbes they obtained from local
soil. “This is particularly relevant since over two thirds of antibiotics originate from soil bacteria
or fungi” (“Our Approach”, n.d.). Some of the tests that have been performed include gram
staining, oxidase tests, Methyl Red – Voges Proskauer tests, and more. All of the students in our
program plan on learning as much as they can about their microbes that are antibiotic producers
and have the potential to create new antibiotics.
Poster
Presentation
Madison’s Presentation of Her Poster on Zoom
Madison W’s presentation slides
Mini Bio
My name is Madison Wytovich, and I am currently a first-year nursing student at Penn State Schuylkill. In the fall, I will be continuing my journey by attending the Joseph F. McCloskey School of Nursing. The Small World/Tiny Earth initiatives have been very beneficial programs and I hope to carry the knowledge I gained from them with me as a nurse.