As a result of unchecked antibiotic use and stalled antibiotic development, the antibiotic resistance crisis and human diseases caused by antibiotic-induced disruption of the microbiome's homeostasis are becoming more prevalent. It has become more important than ever to use our current antibiotic arsenal more effectively. In order to do so, we must understand how antibiotics impact the members of the human microbiome. While individual microorganisms respond to antibiotics in different ways, the collective response of the human microbiome to treatment is of importance. Thus, we seek to profile the impacts of antibiotics on the microbiome as a whole. This study will survey the changes in the salivary microbiome of patients admitted to Rhode Island Hospital. In order to effectively assess these changes, we need an effective and consistent way to extract and amplify the DNA of both bacterial and fungal species present in the microbiome. The focus of this work is to optimize the extraction and amplification protocols that will be necessary for moving forward with the rest of the study.
Zabat, Michelle,
"Interrogating the oral microbiome"
(2016).
Summer Research Symposium.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.26300/4wbx-m966
Each year, Brown University showcases the research of its undergraduates at the Summer Research Symposium. More than half of the student-researchers are UTRA recipients, while others receive funding from a variety of Brown-administered and national programs and fellowships and go …
