• Question: What is the best thing you've found using your research and what made it the best?

    Asked by Melodie to Aaron, Ananthi, Ashley, Christopher, Emma, Lea on 12 Nov 2017. This question was also asked by noah, Mel, Gracious.
    • Photo: Ananthi Ramachandran

      Ananthi Ramachandran answered on 12 Nov 2017:

      I would say the most interesting thing I have found in my research so far is this…

      I am working with C. difficile and bacteriophages (viruses that attack bacteria) with the hope to find an alternative to treatment for C difficile infection which can replace antibiotics. So I have been looking at how the C. difficile bacteria and bacteriophages interact within a realistic environment. Because C. difficile infection happens in your gut I have been using large intestine cells and recreating an infection and treatment on those cells. I have found that the mucus that is in the cells affects the interactions between the bacteria and bacteriophage in different ways! I am now using my last few months of my PhD to try and find out what the mucus does to the bacteriophages? It is the most interesting thing I have looked at and not many people in the world have even thought to study this so it is quite unique!

    • Photo: Emma Stevenson

      Emma Stevenson answered on 12 Nov 2017:

      For me, the best thing I have found was data that made it possible to create a scorecard to try and predict who might be more at risk from death due to a bacteria called Clostridium difficile. What made it the best was that it was my first, first author publication and even made the local news! Something I am really proud of.

    • Photo: Aaron Brown

      Aaron Brown answered on 12 Nov 2017:

      I am still quite early in my scientist career, but I think so far the best bit of my research is proving the point that we can actually generate renewable energy from grass using microorganisms, my next job is to work on improving the process to generate more energy more efficiently

Comments