Could a kid do scientific research that even real scientists would take note of? Well, 17-year-old Ashley Mulroy did. She set out to test drinking water for traces of antibiotic drugs. She's one of a handful of people in this country to do such research so far.
Read about Ashley's efforts here:
This article touches on two issues: water safety and the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.
If you've been reading all the news articles highlighted in this section of Microbe.org, you've probably gotten a sense of the problem of antibiotic resistance. In a nutshell, all those great drugs doctors give us to fight off bacterial infections are losing their power as the bugs evolve ways to protect themselves. Many scientists believe that overprescription of these drugs and misuse by patients are the main factors driving this growing resistance. Some scientists believe that bacteria also are being overexposed to antibiotics through other avenues such the large amounts of antibiotics given to chickens, cattle and other animals we eat. As more and more bugs are exposed to drugs unnecessarily, sometimes for only short periods of time, the bacteria have more time and incentive to learn to adapt to the drugs. (For more detail on how this works, see Microbial Mutations.)
Ashley's research, along with a few other studies by scientists, are beginning to suggest that antibiotics may also get into the water supply. Drugs excreted by people who are taking them may get into water through sewage and treatment systems. Drugs excreted by farm animals may enter nearby streams, ponds or rivers as run-off from the farms.
The antibiotic levels scientists have found in open waters or drinking water have been pretty small. But there is some concern that these low levels could be just enough to trigger bacteria, including disease-causing bugs, to build defensive mechanisms. Our drinking water is treated, so it shouldn't be swarming full of bacteria. However, the thinking is that when you drink the water, bacteria in your guts would be exposed to these low levels of drugs and perhaps adapt protective measures in response. If you happen to be carrying some disease-causing germs, they too might be triggered to find ways to ward off the drugs. Or they might copy the new defensive genes developed by the normal gut microbes.
So you might read this and think, well, maybe it wouldn't be so bad If antibiotic levels in open waters such as rivers and streams got high enough to be fatal to bacteria swimming in the mix. Sure, dead bacteria might sound good if by that you mean dead germs. But there are a whole lot more non-disease causing bacteria out there than there are germs. All those little bacteria are the very foundation of many food chains. If they die off en masse, it would have a ripple effect throughout the entire ecosystem as creatures higher up the food chain face a dwindling amount of food.
If you want to get involved in an interesting research project like Ashley, talk to your science teacher. Ask if he or she would be willing to work with you to set up a special project. Find out about science fairs you could enter—they're going on all the time. Ask your teacher about science news magazines, web sites or other sources you could use to keep up with what's happening—after all, Ashley got her project idea after reading an article in a science magazine that really got her thinking. And just be curious about the world around you and keeping asking "why is that?"
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