PhageHunter

As an ACM PhageHunter, you have the opportunity to become involved in a project that:

• Allows you to discover a previously undiscovered bacteriophage
• Teaches you cutting-edge molecular biology technique
• Identifies genes in DNA sequences using applied bioinformatic
• Gives you the chance to co-author a scientific publication

Be part of the first ACM PhageHunter team for Fall 2019. This program is a two-semester course-based research experience aimed at undergraduates who are interested in participating in a beginner research project and have little to no research experience. Through the SEA PHAGES program curriculum from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), ACM students, along with other students from over 100 colleges internationally, will contribute to the discovery of new viruses that specifically target bacteria. As the only community college in Maryland to offer this program, students will have the chance to gain valuable research experience that most other community college students do not get.

In the Fall semester, you will isolate bacteriophages from locally-collected environmental samples, which will then be purified and characterized. The extracted DNA from these samples will then be used for further analysis. By the end of the first semester, you will have selected phages for DNA sequencing.



In the Spring semester, you will employ bioinformatics methods to interpret the isolated DNA sequence. After quality control checks to ensure the right techniques are being utilized, the phage’s analyzed sequence will be submitted to the National Center for Biotechnology Information GenBank database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/). If the phage is one that has yet to be discovered and is new to the database, YOU get to choose what that phage will be named.



At the end of the school year, one student and a faculty member from ACM will present their work at the annual National SEA-PHAGES Symposium, which is a student-centered scientific meeting with other SEA-PHAGE colleagues. Students will also have the opportunity to present their results at the annual Maryland STEM Conference.



This program is listed under General Biology 101 in the Fall and General Biology 102 in the Spring. If you already have your General Biology credits, including Early College, and you still want to be a part of the research, you can sign up for this program under Biology 299/Special Problems for 2 credits.

• Students and faculty are co-authors on many publications from their PhageHunter research.
• Recent journal article on six new bacteriophages isolated and characterized. The first seven authors are students! 
• YouTube video showing students doing the PhageHunter Lab at University of Maine.
• University of Pittsburgh PhageHunter Facebook page