All across America and a plethora of other countries around the world, there have been various outbreaks of E. coli in food sources. Undercooked ground beef, unpasteurized milk and juices, soft cheeses made from milk, raw fruits and vegetables, and contaminated water sources all serve as prime hosts for these bacteria to thrive in (E. coli, n.d.). Consumption of E. coli from a contaminated food source can allow these bacteria to grow in the intestines of humans, leading to many symptoms of major illnesses (E. coli, n.d.). In recent years, E. coli has shown increasing resistance to drugs and other forms of eradication, indicating that it is adapting and becoming harder to kill (Tadesse et al., 2012)
A breakthrough in the treatment of these bacteria …show more content…
coli can recover after being exposed to a small dosage of U.V. light and see if it can potentially serve as a treatment of E. coli from food and water sources, I have devised an experiment to test the recovery rates of E. coli in various environments. Four separate plates with the same strand of E. coli will be exposed to UV light at a set wavelength (~300nm) and for a set amount of time (~20 seconds). The growth of these E. coli colonies after being exposed to the light will be studied at room temperature (22 °C) and at a set incubator temperature (37 °C). Each of these locations will have one colony that is exposed to light (windowsill) and one that is exposed to dark (covered by a box) to see if light conditions impact growth. In addition, four more E. coli plates with will be used in each location, light and dark without any UV treatment to serve as controls for the experiment. The location and whether it is exposed to light or dark conditions will be the independent variable, while the growth rate of the E. coli will be the dependent variable. Once the E. coli have been given a week to recover from the ultraviolet light in their distinct locations, they will be diluted with water in a 90:10 ratio repeatedly, in order for the bacterial colonies to be counted. A pilot run will be performed ahead of time to see which dilution factor yields the most countable, yet accurate reading of the amount of bacteria there are. Then, the bacteria population in
A breakthrough in the treatment of these bacteria …show more content…
coli can recover after being exposed to a small dosage of U.V. light and see if it can potentially serve as a treatment of E. coli from food and water sources, I have devised an experiment to test the recovery rates of E. coli in various environments. Four separate plates with the same strand of E. coli will be exposed to UV light at a set wavelength (~300nm) and for a set amount of time (~20 seconds). The growth of these E. coli colonies after being exposed to the light will be studied at room temperature (22 °C) and at a set incubator temperature (37 °C). Each of these locations will have one colony that is exposed to light (windowsill) and one that is exposed to dark (covered by a box) to see if light conditions impact growth. In addition, four more E. coli plates with will be used in each location, light and dark without any UV treatment to serve as controls for the experiment. The location and whether it is exposed to light or dark conditions will be the independent variable, while the growth rate of the E. coli will be the dependent variable. Once the E. coli have been given a week to recover from the ultraviolet light in their distinct locations, they will be diluted with water in a 90:10 ratio repeatedly, in order for the bacterial colonies to be counted. A pilot run will be performed ahead of time to see which dilution factor yields the most countable, yet accurate reading of the amount of bacteria there are. Then, the bacteria population in