Science Fair Topic

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that can lead to death if untreated. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body. It is spread through the air, when people who have the disease cough, sneeze, or spit. In more than nine out of ten patients, tuberculosis can be cured with appropriate treatment. Treatment for tuberculosis usually combines several different anti-biotic drugs that is given for at least six months, sometimes for as long as 12 months. In order for the cure to be effective, the patient must make sure that the right amount of medication is taken for the right amount of time. If too little medicine is taken, or the right amount is taken for a shorter period of time, a cure is less likely. Furthermore, there is a greater chance a person will become drug resistant.

Our science fair topic is to determine whether cocktailing two anti-biotics together would have a more effective result in curing tuberculosis or not.

The job of anti-biotics is to kill bacteria. If bacteria make it past our immune systems and start reproducing inside our bodies, they cause a disease. Anti-biotics kill the bacteria to eliminate the disease. An anti-biotic is designed to kill specific type of bacteria, but not to kill the cells in your body. Although there are a number of different types of anti-biotics, they all work in one of two ways: 1) kills bacteria, or 2) stops bacteria from multiplying.

Hypothesis: If combining two different anti-biotics used to cure the same disease, then will this increase the effect of the medication.

Controlled Variables: anti-biotic A, B, and C

Independent Variables: combined anti-biotics AB, BC, and AC

Dependent Variables: the number of bacteria killed

References

What is tuberculosis?. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Tuberculosis.aspx

Schoenstadt, A. (2006, October 10). Tuberculosis cure. Retrieved from http://tuberculosis.emedtv.com/tuberculosis/tuberculosis-cure.html

What are antibiotics? How do antibiotics work?. (2009, April 20). Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/10278.php