Over the course of this year, I have worked to answer the research question "can bacteriophages, specifically strain T4 and T2 be utilized as a tool to kill E.Coli bacteria in large public bodies of water in an effort to reduce infections in the population contracted in such water sites". This began with research of the species in question and the methodology which would come to be used. While moving through the experimentation course of action, there were many setbacks. As this was the first time anyone in the research team had worked with bacteriophages, there was a large learning curve; additionally, things such as contamination from unknown sources and incorrect species purchases due to incorrect information from the biological supply company led the experimentation off track a few times along the way. In the end, we did find that bacteriophage species T4 and T2, with T2 being the most effective, will lower the bacteria count in solution significantly, all the way to a totally clean, or "zero count" plate, in realistic pond/lake water infection levels. This is a very exciting feat considering the time, resource, and experience restraints inherently placed on the researchers. These results could be extrapolated to real-life scenarios and the project could be continued on in the future to work to find a distribution method for the phage into the water system.
Quarter 4
During quarter 4, many important advancements were made in the experimentation to improve and wrap up the knowledge on the species and methods in question. The phages were used to kill E.Coli B bacteria in volumes of both growth broth and the pond water that has been maintained in the tank all year. It was found that the bacteriophages lowered bacteria count in both media, shown through our plating results. The data was extrapolated to scenarios such as larger bodies of water and water supply sources as a way to combat E.Coli outbreaks and their detrimental effects on society.
Quarter 3
This quarter we utilized the methodology of filtration to purify our bacteriophage stock. There were setbacks along the way such as incorrect information from the biological supply company and incorrect procedural steps/aseptic technique leading to contamination; however, we got ourselves back on track for the experimentation course of action. We infected the E.Coli B colony and killed the cells with the bacteriophage which had multiplied. In the future we will be using said phage stock to run the experiments measuring the effectivity of the phages in killing E.Coli in certain volumes of fluid.
Quarter 2
This quarter proved to be a large step forward for our research project. We started off the quarter with just drafts. We established a timeline and met with our advisor multiple times. After we had a plan created, we decided upon materials needed. The total cost quickly added up, so we had to request money from the fund and apply for a couple grants. Towards the end of December and early January our ideas became a tangible reality as we placed our order for material. It took about a month to figure out our whole order and get it shipped, but the first week back to school in January we received all the materials we needed to get started! After we got our materials we started setting up our experiment. It has proved to be rather tedious, and it is taking a long time; however, setting up a good foundation now will pay off once we start trials. So far we have re-created the pond environment that serves as the model for area of nature we hope to benefit. To do this we obtained water from Sylvan Glen Lake over break along with some soil from the bottom. Then we cleaned out a fish tank that now serves as a place for our environment. After this environment was created we started to build up stocks of our bacteria and nutrients. After we have enough stock for our trials, we will commence the data collection. With this, we hope to begin building a scientific method to effectively and efficiently cure large bodies of water of E.Coli infection reducing or eliminating risk of sickness, lawsuits, and profit loss.
Quarter 1
For the group project, both of us were in the group that worked on changing the way the school conducts pick up and drop off in order to reduce flow in the student parking lot. Initially, the group was very optimistic that our ideas would all work out and that, since this was a problem a lot of people could relate to, it would have a lot of support and get approved relatively quickly; many of the group members even expected to carry out the project as one of their personal projects. After presenting the idea and going through with our plan we quickly realized that it was a much deeper issue, with many more layers than we thought; it was not going to be an easy solve. We had not thought it through deeply enough and there was a long road ahead if we wanted to carry it through. We did not end up taking on the project but we did learn a lot about how to go about a large project like that, and will apply that knowledge to our personal project. The group project experience taught us a lot about being realistic about the parameters of a project, and thorough planning. The team's personal project was originally to use bacteriophages as an antibiotic alternative and run some trials on bacteriophage therapy on human bacterial infectious diseases. While this was a great and probably achievable idea with a long timeline and a lot of money, after we met with Mrs.Peterson, we decided to take the project in a somewhat new direction. The new idea still involved bacteriophage science, as it is very cutting edge and that is what we are interested in innovating with, but instead we came up with the idea of using the bacteriophages to kill strains of E.Coli bacteria in water sources. This new idea is very innovative and would be extremely effective in stopping E.Coli infection from a tainted water source, which often happens when water levels get too high after a storm or flood event. We have already had a meeting with Mrs.Peterson to get the ball rolling on this project, as she will be our mentor for it. We will continue to meet with her to narrow down our ideas and solidify what we will be actually be testing and to create a finalized game-plan for the trials. We have not run into any metaphorical roadblocks yet, as we are only in the planning phase of experimentation, however, possible problems could arise from lack of sufficient funding, strain purchase clearances such as FDA or other government clearance, or experimental flaws or random failure, which sometimes happens during experiments like these. We have, and will continue to, put the lessons learned during the group project into play and try to accomplish our goals effectively, efficiently, and innovatively.