Tiny Earth (TE) challenges over 10,000 students to solve a “real-life” medical problem – antibiotic resistance – while training for higher-paying STEM jobs. Real research projects like TE increase STEM diversity by better engaging women and minorities with a reason for their training. 

The World Health Organization celebrates Antibiotic Awareness Week November 14-20 to raise awareness about the importance of properly using antibiotics. Since antibiotics were first developed in the 1940’s, they have saved countless lives. However, we have overused and misused antibiotics and are now confronted with the idea of an “antibiotic winter”, where bacterial pathogens have evolved resistance to these life-saving drugs rendering them useless. To make matters worse, the big pharmaceutical companies are not investing in research for new antibiotics because rediscovery rate is high. Antibiotics are simply not as profitable as other drugs. Academia and citizen science can fill this gap in novel antibiotic discovery by doing the initial discovery process, while teaching students valuable microbiology techniques. Once potential products are identified, then academic-private partnerships can be formed to get the antibiotic through testing and perhaps to market. Tiny Earth (TE) is one such academic group sifting through hundreds of thousands of soil microbes for new antibiotic compounds.

Small World Initiative
Student Katherine Bell (left) and Dr. Nichole Broderick, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at University of Connecticut examine bacterial samples (Photo courtesy of PETER MORENUS/UCONN)

“I’ll never use this”, a leaky STEM pipeline 

Student apathy, increasing emergence of antibiotic resistance, and a “leaky” STEM pipeline. These seemingly disparate problems are being solved with one answer – Tiny Earth. TE challenges high school and college students to identify novel antibiotics from soil microbes. TE students have ownership of their projects, see how science can benefit humanity, and develop important job skills for higher paying STEM jobs. Implemented in 15 countries, and over 160 institutions (high school, community and 4 year colleges), TE is an incredible training tool and important citizen science project.

Jo Handelsman, Ph.D., then at Yale University, now at Wisconsin created TE in response to a 2012 report from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology to improve STEM education in the first two years of college and train an additional 1 million STEM college graduates. Women and minorities are found to drop out of STEM programs in these first 2 years of college citing that the courses are meaningless and don’t connect to their life. “Authentic research” laboratories or CURE (Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences) are more inclusive [2] and engaging. Traditionally science laboratories have been “cookbook” labs. Students follow predesigned experiments designed to “give them right answer” in the end. However, science doesn’t work like that and students become more involved and excited about their projects when they test their own hypotheses. Hence, the authentic research, with TE as an excellent example of a CURE for introductory microbiology classes.

2019_TEPI_map
Global map of the Tiny Earth Partnership Institutions as of 07/2019. To find the group nearest you, go to their website: https://tinyearth.wisc.edu/ and click on the map!

Revamping old labs to make new discoveries

Nicole Broderick, PhD, Assistant Professor at University of Connecticut and current TE program coordinator, said that students learn standard microbiology techniques because they are invested in doing “real science” and have a chance to discover something new. The TE lab module replaces the typical “microbiology unknown” lab, where Microbiology students screen standard, known (to the instructor) bacterial cultures to determine what the bacterium is. In this case, the unknown is unknown to both student and teacher.  Since similar resources are used to a standard microbiology “unknown” lab, the cost isn’t an issue for most schools.

TE students make decisions from the beginning. Where should they sample? Are there habitats that are more likely than others where antibiotics might be an important survival strategy for microbes? Dr. Broderick has known students to sample everything from the soil near the UConn spray-painted rock, to soil from a grave in the New Haven Cemetery from 1790, to estuaries. Determining where to collect the original sample not only has students thinking about where antibiotic-producing bacteria might be, but it also connects them more to their local environment. They realize that there is microscopic life under their feet. Students then collect soil, do dilutions onto whichever media they choose, identify novel morphologies, and isolate ~ 20-30 colonies. Those isolates are screened against safe Gramand Gram+ bacteria for the presence of antibiotics. Students use molecular (16S rRNA) techniques and standard biochemical characterizations to characterize their 2 or 3 antibiotic-producing strains.

Small World Initiative
Bacterial colonies on Blood Agar Media. Image from  the McGill Reporter 

Dr. Broderick has been conducting TE programs for 6 years, training over 35 students and 30 teachers, who then start TE in their classrooms. In her experience, every student has found a bacterium that makes antibiotics. Most of the antibiotics aren’t novel, but identifying even one potential new antibiotic is important. In Dr. Broderick’s course, she has time for students to also design experiments, test, and retest their bacterial isolate for antifungal compounds. By this time in the course, students are familiar enough with the procedures that they are confident and excited about this new challenge. Natural products colleagues in the Chemistry Department of the University of Connecticut collaborate on extracting the products TE students identify for further testing and characterization. One of Dr. Broderick’s students has isolated an interesting bacterium that produces a purple pigment. As a chemistry major, the student is completing the TE course by doing thin layer chromatography plates to separate the pigment from the rest of the compounds being produced by the bacterium. Pigment and compounds are then tested to determine what kills the bacteria. TE is developing materials to adding the natural products chemistry portion of the research as a standard part of the curriculum for introductory chemistry or biochemistry classes.

Students Helping the World Avoid the Antibiotic Winter?

Tiny Earth helps fill the gap left by private industry in the hunt for novel antibiotics. TE has quite a challenge to discover novel compounds from environmental bacteria, but they have the right tools, many hands, and determination – a winning combination. I am confident that involving citizens and early-career students in tackling this extreme health care problem, great strides will be made. Not only is there the potential for finding novel compounds, but higher-paid, more diverse workforce in STEM fields will be created. TE also creates consumers informed about the importance of antibiotics and potential benefits from microbes and nature as sources of helpful compounds. Finally, TE is capturing and preserving a vast collection of culturable microbial soil diversity and their compounds for future generations. No matter how you look at it, this is an incredibly valuable and life-changing CURE for everyone.

To find out more about TE, follow their program, or apply to become a TE school:

Twitter @TinyEarthNet, #TinyEarth,

Like Us on Facebook,

See their website: TinyEarth

Related projects

REFERENCES

  1. Caruso JP, Israel N, Rowland K, Lovelace MJ, Saunders MJ: Citizen Science: The Small World Initiative Improved Lecture Grades and California Critical Thinking Skills Test Scores of Nonscience Major Students at Florida Atlantic University. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education 2016, 17(1):156-162.
  2. Bangera G, Brownell SE: Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences Can Make Scientific Research More Inclusive. CBE Life Sciences Education 2014, 13(4):602-606.

Share the Microbial Love
Thank you for reading my blog.
Please share this post if you enjoyed it.


What Do You Think?

Follow me on Twitter