Students have Research Published

Dr. K. Joy Karnas, Professor of Biology, and three research students from her lab, Julianna Marotta ('19), Rochelle Koseki ('20), and Ellen Sherman ('19) published their research findings Triclosan Resistance Derived Across Environmentally and Clinically Relevant Gram-Negative Bacteria in the Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science (Volume 93, pages 83-106). This work builds on a phenomenon noted in Logan Exton's 6th-grade science fair project, in which he observed colonies of bacteria that appeared to be resistant to triclosan, a compound once commonly found in hand sanitizers and still used in consumables such as toothpaste. The Karnas lab followed up this observation by exposing five different species of bacteria to triclosan and found that within a few exposure cycles, they were able to grow in the presence of the compound. The paper details their characterization of these novel strains with altered growth properties and raises concerns regarding how easily antibiotic-resistant bacteria are selected for when antimicrobial compounds are overused.