Ashlynn Vanatter
Biology – Pre-Professional Medicine Major
Physical and Biological Sciences Category
Bio
My name is Ashlynn Vanatter, and I am from West Plains, Missouri. This rural town is about three hours Southeast of Joplin. During my free time, I enjoy camping and spending time with my family at the lake or on the river.
I am a senior Biology/ Pre-Med major. During my time at Missouri Southern I have participated in Caduceus Club, Women in Science, Wildlife Society, and Honors Student Organization, holding executive positions in Caduceus Club (Secretary), Women in Science (Vice President), and Honors Student Organization (Treasurer). I was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa in the Fall of 2020 and have recently received the Glenn Dolence Leadership-Service Award. I have been a member of the Honors Program and the Women’s Track and Field Team all four years and have received a scholarship for both.
I am currently in the process of studying for my MCAT, which I will take after graduation in May. I will then begin the process of applying to medical school. During the application process, I will be working as a medical scribe at Cox Health in Springfield, Missouri.
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance is the ability of bacteria to survive exposure to antibiotics that were designed to kill them or inhibit their growth This experiment aimed to answer the question if chronic low-grade usage of amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, or trimethoprim promoted antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli over time. This in vitro study tested if the concentration of antibiotics and the type of antibiotic affected the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) required for each antibiotic to inhibit bacterial growth. To find these measurements a MIC assay was used, and the bacterial concentrations in each well were recorded and compared. The expectation of this study was that as the bacteria were treated with high concentration antibiotics for a longer amount of time, a lower bacterial growth would be observed. A 2-Factor ANOVA reported that in a full factorial model, there was not a significant interaction between antibiotic exposure and type of bacterial concentration (F= 1.597, df=2,12, p= 0.2428), therefore the interaction was removed. In a partial factorial model, there was not a significant difference between the bacterial concentration and the antibiotic exposure (F=1.959, df=1,14, p=0.1834). However, there was a significant difference between bacterial concentration and antibiotic type (F=5.413, df=2,14, p=0.0181).
Keywords: Antibiotic resistance, Amoxicillin, Ciprofloxacin, Trimethoprim, Escherichia coli, in vitro, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)