A team of Chicago middle schoolers has made a groundbreaking discovery after collecting and analyzing environmental samples from an Illinois park. The students, part of the Boys and Girls Club’s applied science program, were partnered with the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) to find new antibiotic candidates. One sample of goose poop, taken from Garfield Park Lagoon, contained a novel bacterium that produced a previously unseen compound called orfamide N.
Lab tests have shown promising results for this compound, inhibiting the growth of human melanoma and ovarian cancer cells. The American Chemical Society praises the students’ achievement as a testament to early science education and addressing STEM inequities.
The 14-week program was led by UIC associate professor Brian Murphy, whose lab is focused on discovering antibiotics from natural sources. The students worked alongside Murphy’s team, programming a robot to test bacterial colonies for antibiotic activity. While the compound shows promise, its development into a drug is still in the early stages.
Murphy emphasizes the importance of university-community partnerships, saying they can serve as models for engaging high-end biomedical research with the next generation of STEM researchers.
Source: https://www.foxweather.com/earth-space/university-illinois-chichago-stem-bacterium