Bacteria are not the enemy . That ’s the first matter microbiologist and doctor Nicola Fawcett wants us to know . The microbes are an of the essence part of our bodies and our life . “ We would n’t be able to survive in this world without bacterium , ” she wrote inher web log .
Fawcett canvas the bacterium she witness in the turd of her patients and report participants . In her work with the Antibiotic Resistance in the Microbiome OxfoRD sketch , which has thebest enlisting poster ever —
— Fawcett watches figure emerge . She sees how diet , travel , hospital stay , and , most dramatically , antibiotic use change a person’smicrobiome . Our gut bacterium are like plant in a garden , she write :
With these botanical effigy in mind , Fawcett decide to create images that would showcase the knockout , interconnectedness , andcomplexityof intestine bacterium . She stamped diminutive colonies of bacterium onto a looker of dye - infuse agar , then left them to grow overnight . The dyes can only be activated by the enzyme of specific bacteria ; in this case , it wasEscherichia coli(purple),Citrobacter(turquoise),andKlebsiella(dark drab ) .
Each dark-skinned dit represents an integral colony of bacteria , which could be made up of millions of individual organisms . The colonies grow and merged , with sizeable population ofE. coliandCitrobactercrowding out the tiny outpost ofKlebsiellagrowth . From the seed colonies Fawcett had planted in the gelatin , the bacterial growth flourished , unfurling into a jewel - toned , translucent semblance of ivy on the vine .
At the outer edges of the gel , Fawcett beat disk full of antibiotics . The antibiotics seeped into the agar-agar and spread , killing off colonies ofE. coliandCitrobacter . A aureole of empty space beleaguer the disc marked MEM , for Meropenem — medication ’s current ‘ last melody of defence ’ against antibiotic - resistant bacteria . But a few hour later , the halo had all but disappeared . In the absence of competition , Klebsiellacolonies had creep in .
The presence ofKlebsiellain what should be a bacterium - free zona is signify to convey “ a worrisome subject matter , ” writes Fawcett :
Fawcett submitted picture of her bacterial painting to the American Society for Microbiology ( ASM ) ’s 2015Agar prowess contest . ( success will be herald next workweek . ) The task was a sight of fun , she state ,
All exposure good manners of Chris Wood , Oxford Medical Illustration , andNicola Fawcett .
