Scientific basis for the project

With the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance to antibiotics, new avenues to identify antimicrobial compounds have never been so important. A number of natural, plant based, products have been identified as having antimicrobial activity. The students are tasked with identifying such compounds and extraction techniques from existing literature and setting up a suitable study to test for these properties from their selected product.

Brief summary of each session

We carry out the whole practical in a lab; however, the first and last sessions could be performed in a classroom as they don’t involve wet lab work. We find that as this is practical is performed as a group activity, a lab setting makes the necessary discussions easier, even when lab work is not performed.

Session 1 – Introduction to practical by the academic, giving an overview of what the practical involves and highlighting what should be taken into consideration when designing their study. Students are then asked to work in their groups  to identify appropriate literature, and design their pilot study which will be performed in the next lab session.

Session 2- Pilot study is performed. Extraction technique is tested, and first tests of antimicrobial activity tested. This requires an overnight incubation period to allow bacterial growth.

Session 3- Discuss in their groups the results of their pilot study. Teaching staff circulate to speak with the students about their results, and highlight things for consideration. Based on the initial set of results obtained, students will modify their approach, and/or expand their study to include more replicates, or test more variables.

Session 4 and 5 Are effectively further iterations of Session 3. This is an aspect of the practical that can be contracted depending on the available time.

Session 6- Data analysis. Students discuss their results in a group and are encouraged to think about how best to display their findings, and what statistical tests, if any, are appropriate to be performed. In this last session we also suggest that the poster which they are to produce as a group summarising their project is planned.

Learning objectives

1. To gain experience planning your own experiments, including suitable controls and  replicates
2. To be able to research current literature online and current literature to devise suitable protocols for your  experiment
3. To plan sufficiently in advance so that you can order all necessary reagents/equipment at the  start of the project, and prepare materials in a timely fashion for use in your experiments
4. To be able to critically appraise your approach in light of preliminary results and adjust your plans accordingly
5. To keep thorough notes about all stages of your work so that you can write a  comprehensive report
6. To be able to think about a future direction for your work

If you decide to use this practical, please let us know about it by filling in this short form – it’s not a requirement but we’d love to hear how our ideas are being used!