Today I gave a talk in topics with a partner about antibiotic resistance to vancomycin. It's been the last line of defense against Methicillin Resistant Staphyloccus aureus (MRSA) which has been a huge problem-infection in hospital settings and now more in community settings like daycares, retirement homes, locker rooms, etc. Anyway, we are starting to see resistance of S. aureaus to vancomycin, and that's bad. We really don't have many drugs that are readily available after van. to treat this infection. A few analogues are being worked on, but there are a few toxic side affects, and I'm not really sure about the rest because that was my partners portion and she's Asian so I couldn't understand most of what she was saying. Plus she focused on aspects that I wouldn't have if I had been doing that section. She was so Type A about this project! Last week she came to my office on average about 5 times a day with changes she had made to the powerpoint. I then had to go back through all of her slides and fix grammar and spelling and capitalization etc. Today she was so nervous she made the first group switch with us so we had to go first! The other group didn't want to switch, but my partner had already spoken with the professor and it would have made them look bad if they didn't switch. I felt sorry for the other group and tried to keep my section short enough so they wouldn't run out of time during the second portion of the class. Anyway, my partnered dominated the question and answer section, which I didn't really mind, but I hope I don't get counted off for it on our grade. I'm glad it's over. I don't have any more assignments or exams in that class, all I have to do is attend until the end of the semester.
Here's a picture of Vancomycin and link to a really cool website that allows you to rotate the molecules!
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