Live Demo: Detecting Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment

Join our Curriculum Director, Bruce Bryan, as he takes part in a nationwide monitoring program testing for antibiotic resistance genes in environmental soil samples. We’ll demonstrate how you can select a sampling strategy based on your own hypotheses about antibiotic resistance hotspots, go to the field and sample, extract total environmental DNA from soil, and use the molecular methods of PCR and gel electrophoresis to test samples for evidence of tetracycline resistance. In the process, you’ll learn all about environmental DNA, antibiotic resistance, and horizontal gene transfer!

This lab has been developed in conjunction with the PARE (Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment) project at Tufts University. The PARE project engages students across the country to test and report the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria from soil at diverse geographic sites. Using both classic microbiology methods and molecular techniques, PARE introduces students to important laboratory skills while engaging students in one of the great environmental and health challenges of our time.