Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

2018 2nd Place: Identifying The Effectiveness Of Plant Extracts For Treating Biofilms Of Escherichia Coli And Myxococcus Xanthus, Micah Burton

Harrisburg University Research Symposium: Highlighting Research, Innovation, & Creativity

Antibiotic resistance is a topic that is of growing concern in the field of medicine. Antibiotics act as growth blockers or act as toxins, killing the organism they affect. These biological weapons generate selective pressure leading to the current antibiotic crisis. This selective pressure causes resistant organisms to begin to emerge and over generations antibiotic resistance can develop and be spread among a bacterial population.

One of the key factors contributing to antibiotic resistance in bacteria is the ability for some bacteria to form and shield themselves within biofilms. Biofilms are masses of bacteria protected by a polysaccharide/ extracellular DNA …

Liposome Synthesis And Evaluation In The Hek-293 Cell Line, Christine Skibinski

Harrisburg University Research Symposium: Highlighting Research, Innovation, & Creativity

Liposomes were synthesized using the thin film method. A lyophilized power of egg-derived phosphatidylcholine, stearylamine, and cholesterol were added to ethanol and dried under argon to form a lipid cake. The lipid cake was rehydrated with dPBS and sonicated at 60°C forming a heterogenous batch of liposomes. Our results revealed the average size of the liposomes, determined by Dynamic Light Scattering, was approximately 223.1nm, while demonstrating a weakly positive zeta-potential of 1.9± 8.07mv. Next, we tested the antitumor action of the liposomes in the HEK-293 cell line via an MTT assay. We observed that the liposomes were able to inhibit …