Katherine Carpenter, Nutrition/Dietics and Pre-Medical Studies
“Establishment of an in vitro system of study Borrelia bugdorferi biofilm formation.”
The purpose of this study is to establish and study Borrelia burgdorferi biofilm formation and antimicrobial sensitivity in vitro. If one can prove that Borrelia bugdorferi is capable of forming biofilm, it will change the way we think about Lyme disease, especially in patients where it seems to be a persistent disease despite long term antibiotics treatment. The elucidation of the molecular mechanisms responsible for the switch from planctonic, free-living growth to a biofilm phenotype, and the development of antibiotic resistance, should provide novel therapeutic targets in chronic Lyme disease.
