* Small World Initiative

Small World Initiative: Research Protocols and Research Guide to Microbial and Chemical Diversity Package by Small World Initiative (Author), Inc. (Author)

Formulated at Yale University in 2012 by the author, Dr. Jo Handelsman, Small World Initiative (SWI) is an innovative program that inspires and retains students in the sciences while addressing a worldwide health threat the diminishing supply of effective antibiotics.

This package is a two-book set which includes the Small World Initiative: Research Protocols, and Small World Initiative: Research Guide to Microbial and Chemical Diversity as a single bundled package.

SWI centers around a discovery-based introductory biology course in which students from around the world perform hands-on field and laboratory research on soil samples in the hunt for new antibiotics. This is particularly relevant since over two thirds of antibiotics originate from soil bacteria or fungi.

Differentiating itself from traditional courses, SWI's biology course provides original research opportunities rather than relying on cookbook experiments with predetermined results. Through a series of student-driven experiments, students collect soil samples, isolate diverse bacteria, test their bacteria against clinically relevant microorganisms, and characterize those showing inhibitory activity.

SWI's approach also provides a platform to crowdsource antibiotic discovery by tapping into the intellectual power of many student researchers concurrently addressing a global challenge and advances promising candidates into the drug development pipeline. This unique class approach harnesses the power of active learning to achieve both educational and scientific goals.

2015 | ISBN: 1506696996 | 32.3MB