- Role
- Finalist
- Region
- Toronto
- Pronouns
- she/her/hers
Audrey Cowen
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Project
Characterizing the Novel Antifungal Activity of an Environmental Microbe-Derived Component
Project #3207
The world is lacking antifungals, posing a growing threat as the antimicrobial resistance pandemic worsens. To address this issue, I was inspired to characterize and develop a novel antifungal. The goal of this project was to analyze the antifungal activity of a component produced by the environmental bacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. I characterized the activity produced by the microbe by evaluating its impact on fungal growth and filamentation, as well as toxicity against mammalian cells. The bioactive component had activity against diverse fungal species and reduced antimicrobial resistance. Additionally, I performed genetic studies to predict the mode of action, discovering genes crucial for the component's activity. Overall, I characterized a microbe-derived component with promising therapeutic potential.
- Challenge
- Curiosity and Ingenuity
- Category
- Intermediate
- Type
- Discovery