- Next up will be Kelly Michie from biology,
speaking on Gotta Screen 'em All,
Discovering Bacterial Genes Required for Wound Infection.
- Can you imagine having an infected painful open wound
that will just not go away?
In fact, every year 6.5 million Americans
will suffer from a chronic wound infection.
By definition, chronic wound infections
take three months or longer to heal.
One of the most common causes is a bacterium
called Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Pseudomonas is associated with increased wound severity,
prolonged healing times, and higher mortality rates.
In order to develop more effective treatments
for the chronic wound infections,
it is vital to better understand
how Pseudomonas causes these infections
on the genetic level.
How do we do this?
With genetic mutants.
A mutant simply has a non-functional version of a gene,
as represented by these different colors.
Traditionally, researchers infect mice
with individual Pseudomonas mutants one at a time
and assess how each mutation
affects Pseudomonas' ability to cause disease.
However, these methods are very laborious,
require large numbers of mice,
and only a limited number of genes can be tested.
For my research, I am instead using a new,
highly efficient method called Tn-Seq.
With Tn-Seq, I infect mice
with a pool of hundreds of thousands
of Pseudomonas mutants simultaneously.
This allows me to test nearly all of Pseudomonas' genes
and identify the ones that are important
for chronic wound infection.
Furthermore, while chronic wounds are relatively common,
they are rare in normally healthy people.
This is because both patient genetics
and predisposing conditions like diabetes
influence a person's risk.
However, very little is actually understood
about these interactions because with traditional methods,
often only one genetic background and process is used.
The novelty of my research is
that I am performing Tn-Seq with a panel
of 16 different types of mice,
each with a different genetic mutation
that causes a clinically relevant immune
or metabolic disease that is found in humans.
This includes mice with diabetes, high cholesterol,
and different immune system deficiencies.
The outcome of my research will be a list of the genes
that are important for Pseudomonas
to cause chronic wound infections in mice
with a variety of predisposing conditions.
This information will be useful,
both to the development of new antibiotics
and for advancing personalized medicine
for patients with predisposing conditions.
Ultimately, I aim to lessen the disease burden
caused by chronic wound infections, thank you.
(audience applauds)
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