The Effects of antibiotics and natural extracts on the growth of staphylococcus epidermidis

Author(s): Aleena Bacorro, Winsor School (Boston, MA)

The ultimate goal of this project, no matter the result, was to see if there were alternative, cost-effective, and/or accessible ways to treat bacterial infections that didn't require a doctor's prescription. I always knew I wanted to study Staphylococcus aureus due to its mutation into MRSA, a deadly flesh-eating bacterium. Unfortunately, due to institutional and legal restrictions, I had to substitute S. aureus for S. epidermidis, a non-pathogenic but otherwise identical bacterium. From there, I tried three substances that can be found in a local grocery store against bacitracin, an over-the-counter drug, and mupirocin, a prescription drug. Eventually, it was found that bacitracin, due to antibiotic resistance, was less effective than tea tree oil, one of the tested substances but was just as, if not a little less, effective than the other two tested substances. Furthermore, despite mupirocin continuing to be the most effective substance, there is some hope that tea tree oil could be effective as well.