College Assistant/ Biology Tutor Resume Example

Antibiotics are miracle drugs that have saved millions of lives from microbial infections since they were discovered in the 1940s. However, recent studies have shown that bacteria have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics because of misuse and abuse. Understanding how bacteria cause disease, how antibiotics work, and how bacteria become resistant to these drugs is critical in the fight against infectious diseases. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) isolated from the venom of mygalomorph spiders were less investigated because taxonomists hypothesized that AMPs evolved in araneomorph venoms after their separation from mygalomorphs around 280 million years ago. Spider venom may represent a potentially new source of novel antimicrobial agents that will act as pore formers to increase permeability and to induce lysis of prokaryotic cells leading to depolarization and cellular death. Our studies of natural peptides from the mygalomorph spider Aphonopelma chalcodes allowed us to identify a specific peptide of mass 2920 Da with an antibacterial effect both on S. aureus  and E. coli. Based on electron micrographs of bacterial cells treated with this peptide, we speculate that the mechanism of action could involve the peptide-lipid interactions leading to either direct or indirect disruption and breakdown of the cell membrane, leading to cell death. Innovative research to discover new antibiotics, in addition to careful use of existing antibiotics, will help us maintain the upper hand in the fight against microbial resistance

Awarded the SMART grant. *Organized fundraisers for the American Cancer Society as a member of the American Chemical Society.

Biology, Cancer, DNA, experiments, inventory, materials, PCR, safety, teacher, Teaching