Adopt a microbe presentation

4/6/2016

Two days before today was the day we presented our adopted microbe. That day I was very nervous because my slide was very simple and I'm afraid that without any reference I will forgot what I was planning to present.

I was the first one to present because we went according to the sequence in the blendspace. I didn't know why my slide was the first one as when I handed in through blendspace it was placed 18th or further. I was quite nervous while waiting for the judges to came in and only hope that I can present smoothly later. After a while the judge and Dr. Fairol were there and we started the presentation. I kept myself talking for the entire 3 min and didn't notice that there was a sign given by Dr. Fairol indicating that 3 min was over. I only realized it when Dr. Fairol keep looking at me and then I tried to sum up in a very short time. In my opinion, I have performed well by conveying the message I planned to. It was a new experience to adopt a microbe and I have gained a lot of knowledge through this. To me, this was the most interesting assignment out of so many given assignments. I enjoyed in the process and lastly thanks to Dr. Fairol for treating us cakes.

My adopted microbe was Helicobacter pylori. It is spherical in shape and lophotrichous. Its a gram negative and microaerophilic bacteria. It lives in the stomach of human by burrowing its flagella into the epithelial layer of the stomach and destroys the mucus layer at the same time. It causes apoptosis of the epithelial cell and triggers immune response. This causes the secretion of more gastric juice and inflammation. The inflammation will then develop into ulcer and eventually cancer. However, not everyone infected with H. pylori will develop cancer as some show no effect at all and some only experience acute gastritis or nausea. They can be transmitted through contaminated food and drink, so to protect yourself you should practice good hygiene habits.