RESEARCHPROPOSAL

JenniferJung
IndependentResearch
20152016

Title:
TheRiseofSuperbugs:WhatWillbetheNewCure?
IntroductionandOverviewofResearch:
Antibioticresistanceisagrowingissueandifanalternativeisnotimplementedsoon,therecould
beseriousglobalhealthconsequences.Scientistsarecurrentlydevelopingvariousantibiotic
alternatives,includingbacteriophagelysinsandbacteriocins.Thisresearchaimstodetermine
whichisthebetterofthetwotoserveasareplacementforantibiotics.Theresearcherwill
conductinterviewswithvariousbiologyexpertsandusetheirknowledgeofthesubjecttoselect
thebetteralternative.Avideowithallofthecollectedinformationwillconveytheconclusionsin
aninformative,easytounderstandformat.
BackgroundandRationale:
Withthediscoveryofpenicillinin1943.antibioticshavesincethenbeenusedtotreatall
kindsofbacterialinfections.However,bacterialstrainsresistanttopenicillinbegantoappear
justthreeyearsafteritsdiscovery,promptingscientiststoimplementadifferentdrugtodothe
samejob.Thisgameofevolutionarycatandmousehascontinueduntiltoday,where
drugresistantbacteriaarebecomingmoreandmorecommon,coincidingwiththedwindling
discoveriesofnewantibioticstocombatthem.Someofthereasonsforthisrecentincrease
includeoverprescriptionofantibioticsbydoctors.Manypatientswillrefusetoleavetheclinic
withoutsomesortofdrugtotreattheirillnessandsomedoctorswillprescribeantibioticsfor
viralinfections,againstwhichtheyareuseless(Theriseofsuperbugs).
Therearetwopromisingnewalternativestoantibiotics:bacteriophagelysinsand
bacteriocins.Bacteriophagesarevirusesthattargetspecificbacterialspeciesandareabundantin
nature,andlysinsareproteinsthatactuallycutthroughthecellmembraneofthehostbacteria
towardstheendofthecellinfectioncycleinorderforthebacteriophagecopiestoleave
(OMahony,Fenton,Henry,Sleator,R.,&Coffey,2011).However,theproteinscanalsobe
appliedexogenously,meaningfromtheoutsideofthecell,aslongasthecellisgrampositive.
Theonlydifferencebetweengrampositiveandgramnegativebacteriaisthatgramnegative
bacteriahaveanextramembranecoveringthecellmembrane.However,thismeansthatphage
lysinsareineffectiveagainstgramnegativebacteria(Fischetti,Nelson,&Schuch,2006).
Anotherpossibleantibioticalternativeisabacteriocin.Bacteriaproducethesethemselvesto
reducecompetitionwithinsimilarspecies.Inparticular,scientistshavefocusedoncolicins,
bacteriocinsdevelopedbythevariousstrainsof
E.coli
andtryingtodevelopthemintodrugs.
ThePheromonicinInstituteinChinahasalreadyconductedexperimentswiththemyielding
positiveresults(Qiu&Wu,2009).
Diseaseaffectseveryone.Therefore,everyonetoadegreecaresaboutwardingoffillness
becauseitappliestothem.Withthegrowingepidemicofsuperbugs,antibioticresistantdisease
willsoonbecomemuchmorecommon.Already,23,000peopledieofantibioticresistantillness
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everyyearintheUnitedStatesalone(Morin&Brown,2015).Doctorshavebeenforcedtoresort
tostrongerandstrongerantibioticstocombatdisease,wipingoutthebeneficialbacteriainthe
body,encouragingopportunisticinfection,andgenerallynotbeingverygoodforthehuman
body.
ResearchMethodology:
ResearchQuestion
Whichofthetwopossiblealternativestotraditionalantibiotics:
bacteriophagelysinsorhybridlysinsisbettertouseastreatmentagainstantibioticresistant
bacteria?
ResearchHypothesis:
Bacteriocinsaremoresuitablefordevelopmentintoadrugbecausethey
canbeapplicablewithbothgramnegativeandgrampositivebacteria,aswellastheadvances
theyhavemadeintotheirdevelopmentasadrugwiththeresearchofthePheromonicinInstitute
inBeijing.
ResearchDesignModel:
Thisisacasestudy,qualitativeresearchbecauseitentailsallofthe
qualitiesthatwillmakeoneantibioticalternativebetterthantheother.Thiswillbedetermined
bycomparinghowfaritisintheresearchprocessfordevelopmentintoadrug,howitcompares
totraditional,broadspectrumantibioticsintermsofkillingbacteria,possibleharmfuleffectsto
thebodywhenadministered,andotherfactorssuchasattractivenesstopharmaceuticalsaswell
asobstaclesingettingthemapprovedbygovernmentalagencies..
Datacollection:
Inordertograspdifferentaspectsoftheantibioticalternativesthatmaymake
onebetterthantheother,thereneedtobeavarietyofdifferentperspectivesfromdifferentfields.
Therefore,interviewswillbethebestwaytogetindepthopinionsanddata.Asurveyinthis
situationisnotpossiblebecausetherearealimitednumberofexpertsknowledgeableabout
antibioticresistanceandeachofthealternatives,phagelysinsandbacteriocins.Mostofthese
peopleareprofessorsofbiologyinvariousuniversities,butphysiciansandothermedicaldoctors
mayalsobeasourceforinformation,atleastonantibioticresistance.
Manyrecognizethatantibioticresistanceisaproblem,andresearchersareconducting
investigationsforvariouspossiblealternativesthatcouldbeusedtofightbacterialinfection.
However,especiallybecausethesedrugsaresoearlyindevelopment,noonehascomparedthe
differentoptionsavailable.Inaddition,theresearchersinvestigatingaspecificantibiotic
alternativedonothaveaccesstoorknowledgeaboutotherstudiesbeingconducted,atleastnot
asindepthastheirparticularspecialty.Therefore,thisresearchwillseektofindthemost
promisingandplausibleantibioticalternativeamongtheonesaccessible.Becausethisisaschool
environment,thevideowilltargetthehighschoolagegenerationinparticular,andwiththe
consentofteachers,willbeshowninbiologyclasses.
ProductObjectives:
Attheendoftheyear,avideowillaccuratelyportraytheinformationgatheredaboutthetwo
differentantibioticalternativesaswellastheconclusionsdrawnfromthedata.Antibiotic
resistanceaffectseveryone,sothegeneralpublicisthetargetaudiencefortheinformation.A
videoiseasilyaccessibleanddoesnotrequiretheviewertodomuchwork,suchastheeffort
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requiredforreadingabrochure.Eventhoughthestudiesinvestigatingthevariousantibiotic
alternativeshavebiologicalterminology,theconceptsthemselvesarenotdifficulttounderstand
whenexplainedinmorestraightforwardterms.Inaddition,whatmaybeconfusingonpaperwill
mostlikelybesimplertocomprehendwhenexplainedvocally.
LogicalConsiderations:
Fordatacollection,thereneedtobewillingintervieweesknowledgeableaboutantibiotic
alternatives,somesortofvoicerecorder,andawaytoconducttheinterview,suchasaphone
callorvideochat.Inordertocreatethevideo,theaidofsomeoneknowledgeableaboutvideo
shootingandeditingwouldbeveryhelpful,avideorecordingdevice,acomputer,andthe
consentofafewbiologyteachersshowthefinalproducttotheirclasses.
Timeline:
Afterthesynthesispapercontainingalloftheinformationcollectedinthefirstsemester,data
collectioncannowbegintoreallydeterminewhichantibioticalternativeisthebest.
Date

Task

FurtherElaboration

Completed?

3/3/16

Createinterview
questions

Iwillaskthesequestionsinmyinterviewsfor
datacollectionwithexpertsinthetwo
antibioticalternatives.

3/4/16

Getapprovalfor
MakesurewithDr.Kiehlthequestionsare
interviewquestions formattedcorrectlyandrevisethem
accordingly.

3/8/15

Sendemailsfor
interviews

Iwillstartlookingforvariousexpertswilling
toparticipateinmyinterview

3/10/16

Designdisplay
board

Whilewaitingforemailreplies,Iwillutilize
mytimetoworkonmydisplayboard.

3/13/16

Finalizeinterviews Bythen,Ihopetofinalizewhowill
participateintheinterviewandsetupdates
andtimes

3/15/16

OralPresentation

Completetheoralpresentationandstart
practicingtoactuallypresentiton3/17/16

3/16/16

Startinterviews

Especiallywithdifferenttimezones,thetimes
ofinterviewsmayvary.

3/23/16

Finishinterviews
andstart
transcribing

Iamgivingmyselfaweektoconductthe
interviewsandwillstarttotranscribe
wheneverIhavetime.IfIhaveto,oneortwo

canextendintospringbreak.
3/26/16

Begindataanalysis Aftertheinterviewsaretranscribed,Iwill

createachartofallofthedifferentresponses
tomyquestionsforasidebysidecomparison

Spring
break

Completedata
analysis,finish
onlineportfolio

HopefullyduringthistimeIcanfinishmy

dataanalysisandchartaswellasmyonline
portfoliosite.Also,workonthedisplayboard
ifpossible.

4/5/16

Turnindata
collection

Turnintranscriptionsanddatachart.

4/7/16

Turninonlineand
paperportfolio

Iwilladdmythirdquarterreflectiontomy
portfolioaswellasmypaperanddata
collection.

4/18/16

Finishsynthesis
paper

Addthedatacollectionanddataanalysis
sectionstomyfinalsynthesispaper.

4/23/16

Planoutvideo

Writethescripttomyvideo,matchittothe
picturesIwilldraw.Practicedrawingthe
scenes.

4/29/16

Finishdisplay
board

OvertheweekendIwillfinishtheentire
displayboard.

5/2/16

Beginfilmingand
editing

Hopefullythefilmingwillnothaveanyissues
becauseIpracticedit.

5/22/16

Finishvideo

Iamgivingmyselfmorethantwoweeksto
makethevideo,hopefullyitwilltakeless.

5/23/16

Emailteacher

Iwanttopresenttoabiologyclass,soIneed
atimetocomein.BecauseoftheHSA,this
dateneedstocomeabitlaterinMay.

5/30/16

Presentfinal
product

BythisdateIwouldliketohavepresentedmy
producttotheclass.

Approval:

__________________________________________________________________
4

StudentSignature

G/TResourceTeacherSignature

Mentor/AdvisorSignature

References:
Fischetti,V.A.,Nelson,D.,&Schuch,R.(2006).Reinventingphagetherapy:Aretheparts
greaterthanthesum?[PDF].
NatureBiotechnology
.Retrievedfrom
http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v24/n12/full/nbt12061508.html
OMahony,J.,Fenton,M.,Henry,M.,Sleator,R.D.,&Coffey,A.(2011).Lysinstokill[PDF].
BioengineeredBugs
,
2
(6).Retrievedfrom
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.4161/bbug.2.6.16804#aHR0cDovL3d3dy50YW5
kZm9ubGluZS5jb20vZG9pL3BkZi8xMC40MTYxL2JidWcuMi42LjE2ODA0QEBAMA
==
Qiu,X.Q.,&Wu,G.Y.(2009).Anovelstrategytotargetlethalpeptidesagainstantibiotic
resistantbacteria.
DiscoveryMedicine
.Retrievedfrom
http://www.discoverymedicine.com/XiaoqingQiu/2009/06/18/anovelstrategytotarget
lethalpeptidesagainstantibioticresistantbacteria/
Theriseofsuperbugs.(n.d.).RetrievedSeptember7,2015,from
ConsumerReports
website:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/health/theriseofsuperbugs/index.htm?utm_source
=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter