Tracking the Spread of Antibiotic Resistance

SBI3C: Microbiology Suganya Chandrakumar

100343762

What Microbe Are You?

Killer Microbe

• Before we start our activity…– In the 1940s, the first

antibiotics was developed– However, resistance to

antibiotics is one of the greatest challenges medicine faces today

E.g. Bacteria have adapted to nearly every antibiotic

Killer Microbe

Prokaryotic organisms• Lack nucleus

Eukaryotic organisms

• Have a nucleus– Most often the DNA floats

freely in the cytoplasm – Many bacterial cells also have

additional loops, Plasmid – Plasmids carry additional

genes (some being antibiotic resistant)

Killer Microbe

• This activity will focus on Conjugation

Antibiotic Resistance Activity!1. You will each receive a paper bag that consists of 5 plasmids.

(Do not reveal what’s inside your bag, or else we lose the objective of the activity!)

2. Paper bags represent bacterial cell; Green plasmids do not carry antibiotic resistance genes; Yellow plasmids do carry antibiotic resistance genes; arms/hands?

3. With the paper bags, (when I say go) you will physically move around the classroom to exchange your circles/plasmids with one another. The twist is you have to take a circle from another student’s bag without looking at it and place it in your own.

4. You are expected to do this 5 times.

Antibiotic Resistance Activity!

After Round 1 of Exchange:

Predicted Number of

Students with Yellow Circles

Number of Students

without Yellow Circles

Number of Students with Yellow Circles

Tally of yellow circles per students

Before Round 1 Exchange

No answer required

No answer required

After Round 1 Exchanges

No answer required

0

1

2

3

4/more

Antibiotic Resistance Activity!

Round 2:

And we will repeat the exchange one more time!

Predicted Number of

Students with Yellow Circles

Number of Students

without Yellow Circles

Number of Students with Yellow Circles

Tally of yellow circles per students

After Round 2 Exchanges

0

1

2

3

4/more

Antibiotic Resistance Activity!Present students with possible discussion questions:• What is the trend of antibiotic resistance

as seen in this simulation?

• How do you predict “bacteria” with different numbers of yellow circles might react to repeated exposure to an antibiotic?

• If you have an infection and your doctor prescribe an antibiotic, why is it important to complete the full 10-14 day course of the medication, rather than to stop as soon as you start feeling better?

Antibiotic Resistance Activity!

Thank You!