Promoting probiotic bacterial growth and activity
Overview: Trillions of microbes live within us in an ever-changing population that has profound impacts on our health. Even in healthy individuals, our microbiomes are dynamic communities comprising both beneficial, commensal organisms and harmful, opportunistic pathogens. Historically, humans have primarily managed these bacterial tenants through the harsh treatment of antibiotics. But we have consistently observed that as we attempt to eliminate bacteria, they rapidly evolve to survive—promoting the global rise of antibacterial resistance. A potentially more sustainable approach will rely on positively supporting our commensal bacteria residents instead. Our team has been investigating how the initial pH of the media influences bacterial growth, and is now focused on other strategies to promote probiotic bacteria growth and activity. Recently, we’ve been exploring how different additives or growth environments influence the formation of biofilms by probiotic bacteria, and the production of bacteriocins that hamper the growth of pathogens. Research on this project will involve sterile culture of bacterial strains, growth quantification, and experimental design and planning.
Logistics: You will be actively working in the research lab with a small team that is focused on this project. The typical time commitment is ~4 hours per week per credit hour. Our team holds weekly group meetings that involve low-stakes research updates from several individuals in a given meeting. We also hold project-focused subgroup meetings on a biweekly basis.
Essay prompt: In 1-2 paragraphs, please describe what motivates you to pursue this research opportunity, and what you are hoping to learn. Please include at least one question you have about the group’s research, and some proposed times you would be available to participate in research in the Spring semester.
The Brucks research group is a relatively new team at Harvey Mudd, and we are actively exploring new areas of research. You will have the opportunity to help chart these next directions of our studies into probiotic bacterial growth and activity. This specific project will afford training in techniques from chemical biology, microbiology, and potentially even organic chemistry too. Lab processes will include sterile technique, preparing and autoclaving growth medias, and evaluating growth via several spectrophotometric or colony forming unit assays. In addition to lab techniques, supportive collaboration, good record keeping and data analysis, and effective communication of results will be strongly emphasized. Our team always centers respect and inclusivity to foster an environment where everyone can succeed.