Rationale:  

Presentation for URSA Scholars Week Poster was practiced.  

Tools: 

• Poster 

Procedure: 

1. Each group for URSA Scholars Week presented.  
2. Critiques and improvements were provided.  
3. Possible Questions and suggestions were asked. 
4. Clarifications on figures and background images were provided.   

Results: 

Presentations were perfected and practiced with critiques from others. The poster was presented on Tuesday and Wednesday.  

Conclusion:  

More about poster presentations were reviewed, including topics that should be focused on, and a better understanding of the figures were attained.  

Future Work:  

Poster will be presented this week. Work for Independent Group Projects will be continued, and more research will be conducted regarding it.  

Rationale:  

The purpose of the lab was to conduct research and finalize a question which could be tested using bioinformatic databases.  

Tools: 

• PhagesDB 
• Phamerator  
• PhageNotes  
• DNA Master 

Procedure: 

1. Collaborated with group to choose a question to test. 
2. Research was conducted for Question 1 and databases were used to test plaque morphologies and mechanisms which could control it.  
3. Another question was chosen, and research was conducted using DNA Master, and PhagesDB .  
4. Research question was decided upon.   

Result: 

Research Question:  

Conclusion: 

The first question, which compared plaque morphology and possible mechanisms which control it, was collectively decided by the group and coaches that it would be too hard to perform with the time and resources provided, and therefore the next question was chosen. 

Future Work: 

More research for the question will be conducted, and changes to the question will be made accordingly.  

Rationale:

Ideas in small groups were generated to create four questions to answer and research on for the independent group project.  

Tools: 

• NapoleonB’s PhageNotes 
• DNA Master 

Procedure: 

1. Group met and brainstormed ideas that seemed interesting.  
2. Questions were formulated, and databases were used to come up with ideas.  
3. Coaches reviewed the questions to make sure they were testable questions.  
4. Final four questions were decided upon.  

Result: 

4 testable questions were produced:  

Conclusion: 

Questions were ordered depending on interest and feasibility. The questions were created to be testable depending on their ability to be answered using bioinformatic databases.  

Future Work:  

One question will be decided upon, and research will be conducted to answer the question bioinformatically .  

Rationale:

Edits were made to finalize the poster, and groups were assigned to start the independent group project.

Tools:

• PhagesDB
• Google Slides

Procedure:

1. Final edits and changes that need to be made were discussed as a class.
2. Edits were implemented.
3. Ideas about Group Project was discussed.

Results:

The final poster for URSA Scholars Week was edited and made.

Conclusion:

The poster will be complete to present for URSA Scholars Week by the end of this week. Ideas about the independent Group Project include creating a phylogenetic tree for phages.

Future Work:

Tools and research related to independent group project will be viewed and a idea will be chosen.

Rationale:

Edits of Poster for URSA Scholars Week were implemented, images were added, and poster was formatted.

Tools:

• Google Slides

Procedure:

1. Changes to the poster were made as discussed in class.
2. Each Part of the poster were edited by the different groups.
3. Picture of Gel Electrophoresis was changed, a new infographic was added, and the overall text boxes were formatted.

Results:

A version of the final poster was created.

Conclusion:

The poster has not been finished, as some information needs to be inserted. Pictures were changed to represent accurate and current information.

Future Work:

The poster will be finished and  reviewed again, and required edits will be made.

1. Antibiotics were introduced to the Soviet Union through the Western culture and was funded by Great Britain, and therefore Russia started to produce antibiotics. Due to World War II occurring during the 1940’s-50’s, the Soviet Union’s funding for antibiotics, which was used for funding of the war weapons, were decreased and the Russians had to rely on their scarce supplies. They did not have equipment or the people to support the production and use of antibiotics as well. The main issue that arose from this was the lack of funding. The way that the USSR’s health care system was operating did was inefficient due to the issue The USSR health care system provided all medical care for free for the patients but charge to the state. Without the adequate funding for antibiotics the USSR encouraged alternative medicines such as anise seeds, dill seeds, chamomile tea, and phage therapy to treat diseases. Phage therapy, due to its inexpensive nature of production, became a popular alternative for antibiotics.  
2. The Hirszfeld Institute located in Poland was founded by Ludwik Hirszfeld. He faced oppression from Stalin due to being e a Jew and forced to endure harsh living situations and face the death of his daughter as well. Due to being Jewish, the “Doctor’s Plot” incident where doctors who were prominently Jewish had been accused of trying to poison army members, did not help in the advancement of the Hirszfeld Institute. The Eliava Institute located in Tbilsis faced similar consequences as did Hirszfeld Institute. They faced oppression from Stalin, and the family was executed as well. The Eliava Institution in 2001 operates without heat and electricity leading to the members of the lab taking the phages home to keep refrigerated which led to the loss of many phages. The Eliava Institute focusses mainly on the research of bacteriophages and practical applications of phages, while Phage Therapy Center created by Gorski in Wroclaw focusses on treatment of patients and clinical uses.  
3. Merril was interested about the use if phages to treat diseases. He inserted phages into mice and observed the amount of time the phages were present in the body. He observed that the phages were removed by the spleen and liver. In order to obtain a phage that could invade the spleen and liver, Merril and his team performed a procedure called serial passage using phage lambda with E coli. A lambda phage was inserted into an E coli strain which was then inserted into the mice’s stomach. When observing the blood samples of the mice seven hours later the research team isolated phage which could invade the spleen and liver and was present even eighteen hours later. This phage was called Argo1 and Argo2. Three groups of mice were treated with the phage, and the fourth group, was left untreated. After a few days the untreated mice had died, showing that the phages could help the mice survive. When observing the figures of the PNAS paper, when injected with more phage the mice recovered faster and didn’t have prolonged symptoms of the disease.  
4. Phage therapy is becoming an increasing interest for the alternative of antibiotics. GangaGen is a company based in India, inspired by the phages discovered near the Ganges and Jamuna River. The company focusses on alternative ways of treatment such as the use of bacteriophages rather than antibiotics. The company focusses on ectolysins which lyses the bacteria quickly. Ectolysins are also created to target one type of bacteria and therefore does not destroy other bacteria in the process. This company focusses on drug resistant bacteria which create diseases in humans. Companies have done some experiments to focus effectiveness of the phage therapy on specific strands of bacteria. More analysis needs to be done on the experiments and results of these companies. Clinical trials, both positive and negative, should be conducted under differing conditions to check the validity of the findings of these companies. Also, effectiveness of phage therapy on situations of antibiotic resistance should be done to see if this can be an alternative to antibiotics. Legal compliance including FDA should be completed before approving the therapy for public use. Extreme cautiousness and a most conservative approach should be adopted to ensure safety of the patients, and not rush with introduction of the phage therapy. Where applicable, a combination of both antibiotics and phage therapy may be applied, if that can produce better results.  

Rationale: The final poster creation was presented to the class, evaluated, and the best poster was chosen.  

Procedure: 

1. Groups presented their final poster to the class.  
2. Feedback and evaluations were provided about the poster. 
3. Class voted on the best poster, and Group 4’s poster was selected.  
4. Ideas for changes for the poster were discussed.  

Result : 

The poster created by Emily , Sabin , Lucy , Lily , Aman , and Michael , was selected as the final poster.  

Conclusion: 

Few adjustments for the poster were suggested, but template of the poster will remain. Some suggestions included to add more information about NapoleonB . 

Future Work:  

Changes to the poster will be incorporated based off of the ideas discussed in class.  

Rationale: The final poster was created combining two posters.  

Tools: 

• Powerpoint 

Procedure: 

1. Large group collaborated and poster templates were shared.  
2. Aspects of each rough draft poster were inserted into the final creation on Powerpoint.  

Result: 

Final Poster Creation:  

Conclusion: 

The final poster was created using different aspects of both posters, and many changes such as the color scheme, and graphics were applied.  

Future Work:  

The poster will be presented and evaluated, and a poster will be chosen to use as a template for the final class poster.  

Rationale:

A poster for Scholar’s Week was created with PowerPoint.  

Tools: 

• Power Point.  
• PhagesDB 
• PhageNotes for NapoelonB 

Procedure: 

1. Created a Power Point Presentation which was shared among other members. 
2. Different pictures and diagrams were added from wet lab and in silico lab.  
3. A rough draft of the poster was created.  

Results: 

A rough draft of the poster was created on PowerPoint. 

Conclusion: 

Some aspects of the poster were challenging and took longer to create than expected and therefore the poster was not completed with the required information and diagrams.  

Future Work:  

In the future the poster will be edited, and more information will be added to create the final poster.