Response of Antibiotics and Bacteria in a Microgravity

Response of Antibiotics and Bacteria in a Microgravity Environment SSEP Mission 4 to the International Space Station Response of Antibiotics and Bacteria in a Microgravity Environment Co-Principal investigators: Paxton Ellul, Ashley Miller, and Haley Dole 12 grade Teacher Facilitator: Patrick Gillespie Traverse City West Senior High School Flight Experiment, Mission 3 to ISS

Response of Antibiotics and Bacteria in Microgravity Essential Question: How does bacteria growth and antibiotics respond together in a microgravity environment? Hypothesis: We believe that the bacteria may grow to a higher concentration in microgravity but the antibiotic dosage will still manage to fully treat the bacteria grown.

Experiment Design Section C- This section contained our antibiotic, Cephalexin, that when mixed in with our staphylococcus epidermidis should kill the bacteria cultures. Section AInside this chamber we inclosed Staphylococcus Epidermidis in a powdered form that would be ready to react with the growth serum. Section B- Within the middle section of the FME tube we placed the bacteria growth serum that will be mixed with the bacteria during the experimental process.

Experiment Design ● Five days prior to coming back from the ISS a clamp was removed from our test tube that allowed the bacteria and the growth serum to mix. The bacteria then grew for three days aboard the ISS. ● Two Days prior to returning to earth the last clap was removed exposing the antibiotic to the growing bacteria. While the astronauts performed these tasks we did the same for control experiment.

Spectrophotometry Test Results Wavelengths in Nanometers Control Experiment Transmittance Microgravity Experiment Transmittance 590 nm 0. 1 0. 4 600 nm 0. 2 0. 6 610 nm 0. 2 0. 6 620 nm 0. 2 0. 6 630 nm 0. 2 0. 6 640 nm 0. 2 0. 6 650 nm 0. 2 0. 6 660 nm 0. 2 0. 4

Control Experiment Microgravity Test Experiment

Conclusion After being sent to Munson’s Laboratory, it was concluded that there was no viable Staphylococcus Epidermidis in either the microgravity or control experiment sample. The antibiotic, Cephalexin, with a heavy dosage worked just as effectively in microgravity. Unfortunately the laboratory lacked the tools to do a quantitative measurement on the dead bacteria and they also reported some contamination in our samples. Why was the control experiment able to absorb more light than the other in our Spectrometer test? We theorize that because there was the same amount of Cephalexin in each of the tests and they were mixed to the same degree, the difference may have come from a variation in the amount of dead bacteria in the solutions. The control experiment absorbed more light in the spectrometer than the microgravity experiment which may mean that it had a greater amount of dead bacteria in its solution. In the microgravity experiment the bacteria had more spatial room meaning that immediately more surface area would have been exposed to the antibiotic; allowing it to kill the bacteria faster than the control experiment which had less bacteria exposed. The control experiment therefore could have kept growing bacteria as the antibiotic was fighting it for a longer period of time than the microgravity experiment therefore producing more dead cultures and transmitting less light in the spectrometer.

Collaborators and Community Partners Collaborators Community Partners Traverse City Area Public Schools Traverse City West Senior High School Munson Healthcare Center for the Advancement of Science in Space Special thanks to SSEP for giving us this experience! National Center for Earth and Space Science Education Dow Chemical Company DTE Energy Foundation Salamander Technologies B and E Enterprize