Team:Stony Brook

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<h1> Project Description </h1>

<h1> Project Description </h1>

<p> The threat of antibiotic resistance has been a concern since the discovery of penicillin.  As antibiotics continue to be used to treat disease, pathogenic bacteria continue to develop resistance, eventually becoming irresponsive to multiple classes of antibiotics. This is a major problem for areas that must maintain sterile environments, such as hospitals or other health-care settings. Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are already an existing issue that poses risks to people receiving or recovering from treatment. Gram-negative bacteria in particular are known to cause more HAIs as they are more resistant to antibiotics than gram-positive bacteria. Irresponsible use of antibiotics has only exacerbated this issue. Recent reports from the World Health Organization confirm that antibiotic resistance is no longer something to worry about in the future, but a current, global health threat. </p>

<p> The threat of antibiotic resistance has been a concern since the discovery of penicillin.  As antibiotics continue to be used to treat disease, pathogenic bacteria continue to develop resistance, eventually becoming irresponsive to multiple classes of antibiotics. This is a major problem for areas that must maintain sterile environments, such as hospitals or other health-care settings. Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are already an existing issue that poses risks to people receiving or recovering from treatment. Gram-negative bacteria in particular are known to cause more HAIs as they are more resistant to antibiotics than gram-positive bacteria. Irresponsible use of antibiotics has only exacerbated this issue. Recent reports from the World Health Organization confirm that antibiotic resistance is no longer something to worry about in the future, but a current, global health threat. </p>

<p> Our project this summer is to transform E. coli with the melittin gene in honey bees, so that the E. coli may express the melittin peptide, thereby developing a means to mass-produce melittin as an alternative to today's antibiotics. We hope to optimize the production of melittin in E. coli, as well as to test the bioactivity of our produced melittin in comparison to its naturally-occurring counterpart. </p>

<p> Our project this summer is to transform E. coli with the melittin gene in honey bees, so that the E. coli may express the melittin peptide, thereby developing a means to mass-produce melittin as an alternative to today's antibiotics. We hope to optimize the production of melittin in E. coli, as well as to test the bioactivity of our produced melittin in comparison to its naturally-occurring counterpart. </p>

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