Assignment task: Sometimes bacteria cause problems, while sometimes they are involved in a solution. Take a look in the news (anywhere you normally get your news from is fine, CNN, Local news, NY Times, NPR, BBC, ABC, NBC, etc.) find an article to share with your classmates that involves a bacterium and world events (historical or current).The article must have a publication date (not a retrieval date) between September 2022- Present, and must be FREE to access (no subscription, account or payment required), so your classmates can read it. Do NOT use press releases, scientific journals, reference articles, etc. You are looking for a "current events" article.
Link to the article here and then in 350-500 words (about one paragraph per category below):
1. Summarize the article in your own words, indicating why this bacteria is in the news, and what the current concern or impact is.
2. Then describe the bacterium using the vocabulary and concepts of Weeks 1-3 including:
- The name of the bacteria (genus and species).
- Are there any other members of this genus that your classmates may be familiar with? Have they also made news recently? Why?
- What is the cell wall structure of this bacterium?
- What specialized structures does this bacterium possess, and how might they be relevant to this article?
- What are it's classifications based on its growth requirements?
- Can this bacterium be grown in the laboratory, if so, what type of media and equipment are normally used? How is it distinguished from other, similar bacterial species? (Week 3)
- You may need to look this up elsewhere, the Centers for Disease Control, United States Department of Agriculture, and the American Society for Microbiology are all good places to start. Remember to cite your sources using the ASM format!
3. Do you think this news article will have an impact on your life in any way? What action might you take in response to it?