I created an interactive book to spread awareness of invisible disease, and the effects of social determinants of health (such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status). My target audience is 13+ years old, and I am thankful to have had a student presenter booth at the Darwin Day Festival where I interacted with an audience of various backgrounds. Additionally, I look forward to publishing my book on Kindle for individuals to buy physical copies and digital copies of my work.
Initial drafts of S. Epi (formerly C. Diff) on the left with the final version displayed on the right.
Why Bacteria?
Throughout my undergraduate career, I have spent much time learning about, thinking about, and discussing microbes, which I don’t mind because I have seen just how cool they are! It is interesting to think about how much I have learned in the past couple of years. For example, before college, the only thing I knew about bacteria was 1) they cause disease and 2) their mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell.
This is not unlike many others outside of the microbiology community who never received formal microbiology education. Why is that? Because microbiology topics are not included in the United States K-12 curriculum! The inadequate coverage of microbiology in grade school may not seem like a big issue, but it leads to glaring and dangerous knowledge gaps later in life. For example, a survey of University of Illinois at Chicago undergraduates revealed that 21% of those without a microbiology background believed antibiotics should be taken every time one is sick.1 Misconceptions like these are concerning as they lead to the misuse of medication, and therefore public health problems and increased disease-causing bacteria.
Data from a 2014 study at the University of Illinois at Chicago showing that undergraduates without a microbiology background overestimate the threat of bacteria and misunderstand the treatment of infection(1).
Because microbiology is not taught in public schools, individuals must learn about microbes through news sources which heavily emphasize globally significant diseases, antibiotic resistance bacteria, large-scale food contamination, and bioterrorism. This negative focus affects the public perception on microbes, generating public fear and, consequently, creating barriers in microbiology research(2).
I believe to combat this fear, it is important to educate children on the good side of bacteria, such as their benefits in agriculture, biotechnology, energy production, protection from infection by other bacteria, and more. To help ease some of this, I have created an illustrated children’s book, and coloring book version, titled “Day in the Life of a Bacterium” which follows a Staphylococcus Epidermidis bacterium nicknamed S. Epi that lives on your nose and works with your immune system to protect you from “bad” bacteria.
About the Project
In creating “Day in the Life of a Bacterium”, I relied heavily on scientific literature describing the role and importance of skin-resident bacteria, such as “Dialogue between skin microbiota and immunity” by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases(3). I also corresponded with Nina Lorimor-Easely of the Iowa Reading Reseach Center to ensure my writing was suitable for my target audience. Lastly, I worked with bacteriologist, Dr. Theresa Ho from The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine to confirm the accuracy of the content and set up an in-person event to share my coloring book.
Picture from the Lincoln Elementary School STEAM night showing coloring book and microscope where kids could look at bacteria like Staphylococcus Epidermidis and compare their size to a human cell.Agar art featuring S. Epi (pre-growth).Gram-stained Staphylococcus Epidermidis under the microscope.
This event took place at the Lincoln Elementary School STEAM night in Iowa City, IA. Here I stood alongside other students from the University of Iowa Department of Microbiology and Immunology to teach elementary schoolers about bacteria through activities such as agar art, viewing bacteria through the microscope, and finally, using the coloring book. Here, I was able to not only showcase my coloring book, but also teach kids about bacteria and their importance.
The illustrated book is available for purchase on Amazon.com (physical copies and kindle version) and will be distributed in the Free Little Libraries throughout Iowa City, IA. The coloring book is available below for downloading and printing.
Movahedzadeh, Farahnaz. “Do You Know Your SH*T? Students’ Awareness, Attitude and Perception about Current and Relevant Events in Microbiology.” British Journal of Applied Science & Technology, vol. 4, no. 16, 2014, pp. 2290–2301., https://doi.org/10.9734/bjast/2014/9315.
Nester, E.W. “Microbiology in the 21st Century: Where Are We and Where Are We Going?” National Center for Biotechnology Information., 2004, https://doi.org/10.1128/aamcol.5sept.2003.
Belkaid, Yasmine, and Julia A. Segre. “Dialogue between Skin Microbiota and Immunity.” Science, vol. 346, no. 6212, 2014, pp. 954–959., https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1260144.
Dr. Jacques Dubochet, a Nobel Prize Winner of Chemistry (5).
By Shivani Manikandan
It might be hard to believe that a dyslexic student who nearly failed high school and was even a college dropout is now a Nobel prize-winner in chemistry, but this is exactly the life story of Dr. Jacques Dubochet (2).
Dubochet is a Swiss biophysicist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017. His groundbreaking research in cryogenic-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) has revolutionized the field of structural biology, allowing scientists to visualize the structures of biological molecules in unprecedented detail (1).
Despite his many achievements, Dubochet’s academic journey was not always easy. He struggled with dyslexia as a child, which made reading and writing a challenge (2). Throughout his schooling years, Dubochet did not get good grades and nearly failed high school. His academics were so poor that he had to receive special permission to advance through his coursework and not be held back. This continued into his college years, and Dubochet says that at times dyslexia fueled his laziness and allowed him to not put in the effort he should have. Fortunately, he had very supportive parents that pushed him to excel in other areas, and teachers that believed in his abilities despite his poor grades. However, after his second year, Dubochet was dismissed from college for his failing grades, and took on some temporary jobs before returning to college and getting a PhD (1).
Dubochet describes his approach to life as follows, “The need for understanding is my way of finding my way in life”, and this was exactly his approach to his career as well (1). His pathway to obtaining a PhD and studying biology was also unconventional. Hoping to fulfill the need to better understand the world around him, Dubochet first earned a diploma in physics. However, he was later influenced by prominent discoveries of the time by researchers like Watson and Crick and wanted to solve biological problems under the framework of physics. In order to do so, he worked to obtain a PhD in Biology and became a biophysicist.
This ultimately led to one of his greatest contributions to the field of biology. Dubochet, along with Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for their discovery of Cryo-EM. Specifically, Dubochet’s contribution to this finding was centered around a process called vitrification (4). At the time of his discovery, it was difficult to understand the molecular structure of biological compounds. Most studies related to this had to be conducted with the help of X-ray Crystallography, a process that requires the biomolecule to be frozen down to crystals. However, this was problematic as it was not always possible to force biomolecules into a crystalline structure. This is where Dubochet comes in. Vitrification is a process of rapid cooling that allows one to preserve the structure of a biomolecule and allows for observation of the structure in solution, without crystallization (4). This method, in combination with Henderson’s discovery that samples can be understood by their interaction with a beam of electrons and Frank’s analysis of this data, allowed for Cryo-EM. This made a large impact on the scientific community (7). Specifically, it allowed for a broader range of molecules to be visualized and enabled the pharmaceutical industry to customize drugs to be able to bind to the specific shapes of molecules (3).
In the real world, it made a large impact on the development of many medications, notably the vaccine for the Zika Virus (3, 6). During a time when there was overwhelming spread of the Zika Virus, the Cryo-EM structure discovery of the virus was crucial in progressing the development of the vaccine, because it helped scientists visualize the changes of virus as it develops over the course of its life cycle, which provided important insight into how to stop the virus life cycle (3, 6). In addition to the Zika Virus, Cryo-EM also helped scientists understand the respiratory syncytial virus, SARS-CoV-2, and other proteins important to the progression of cancer (7). The applications of Cryo-EM are immense, and it’s especially remarkable considering the atypical path that led Dubochet to help make this discovery.
At the University of Iowa, the departments of Biophysics and Biochemistry are applying Dubochet’s discovery, Cryo-EM, in a variety of ways to help solve problems in biology. Specifically, some experts are studying the role of a specific transcription factor’s structure in binding to different areas of the genome and regulating gene expression. Others are studying the role of specific protein structure in relation to muscular dystrophy and potential ways to combat it (8, 9).
Cryo-EM Structure of the Zika Virus (3).
In terms of studying transcription factors, experts hope to better understand what change in the transcription factor, the Glucocorticoid Receptor, causes it to bind to a specific region of the genome over another. Additionally, they hope to better understand the role of glucocorticoid receptors in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. They hope to explore these questions by looking at the structures of the molecules involved (8).
With regards to muscular dystrophy, changes to a specific protein complex called dystrophin-glycoprotein can affect the type of dystrophy a person has. Experts are working to uncover how changes to the structure of this complex can affect the way it interacts with its surroundings and its overall function. This information could provide insight into possible treatment options for this disease. The structural study of such a project relies on methods like Cryo-EM (9).
Even though Dubochet’s journey to the scientific field was unconventional, he was able to make such a large impact on the way we see the biomolecules within us. Dubochet serves as a reminder that no student should be judged solely by their grades or their ability to conform to conventional standards of intelligence, and that a true scientist is defined not by their career path but by their curiosity, perseverance, and willingness to learn.
Links to research groups in the University of Iowa:
