ELN & Projects
Adopt a Microbe (AAM)
INTRODUCTION – WHY YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT…
In order to learn about culturing, staining and diagnostic methods, all the tools we learn in the lab, we will do a virtual “unknown project” where students will become an expert on their chosen microbe. This activity is to reinforce the module learning goals by applying them to your own unique microbe. At the end of the activity, you will be an expert to describe, detect and diagnose your pathogen.
Your instructor may have a specific list of microbes to chose from. the idea is that everyone in the class has a different organism to work with.
Access OpenStax: Taxonomy of Clinically Relevant Microorganisms
LEARNING GOALS
For many of our modules and activities, complete the appropriate part of your adopt a microbe.
- Adopt a microbe – your personal favorite microbe: chose a bacterium (GIDEON, to use GIDEON – use VPN if you are off campus). Video: How to Adopt your microbe in GIDOEN?
- History of microbiology – background information of your microbe, who described it and when, what disease does it cause…..
- Growing microbes – what media does your organism grow on and what growing conditions does it require?
- Visualizing microbes – what does it look like on a Gram stain, what other visualizations are there of your microbe?
- Traditional diagnostics: use GIDEON to see how your microbe reacts and looks like on the tests/media
- Molecular diagnostics: 16s rRNA amplification and sequencing
- Bioinformatics and phylogeny
- Combating microbes – treatment for your microbe
- Current research in the field
- Reference management – compile references for all resources
HISTORY CONNECTION
Actually diagnosing disease and treating a specific pathogen rather than “maladies” is a fairly new concept that started popularity really only Pasteur confirmed the “Germ Theory of Disease” in the mid-1800s. Traditional diagnostic methods were developed after culturing bacteria on agar plates, starting in the 1880s, thanks to Fannie Hesse Links to an external site.. Molecular diagnostics did not follow until much later after the discovery of DNA Links to an external site. and the development of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).
Links to an external site. Treatment and vaccines for most diseases are part of the recent history of microbiology. Some of the
CASE STUDY
This exercise will get you ready to solve the “GIDEON diagnostic game” after you have completed the appropriate modules.
Students often have a difficult time assembling different educational modules and synthesize the information to connect it to real-life applications. We asked the question if a real-life simulation of an infectious disease scenario would enhance their critical thinking skills and awareness of the complexity of infectious disease diagnostic. We developed “The Diagnostic Challenge” for our undergraduate students using GIDEON, an online application, used by health professionals to diagnose infectious diseases and provides the latest trends in epidemiology, treatment, and microbiology. you may not know that some of the common pathogens today were only recently discovered and describes, such as the causative agent of Lyme Disease, Borellia burgdorferi, named after his discoverer William Burgdorfer (1981)
Videos
- Adopt a Microbe – online unknown identification
- Video explaining different sections and example analysis
- How to adopt your own microbe using GIDEON
Be CREATIVE
