A middle school student from Chicago made an extraordinary discovery after bringing goose poop to study in class and discovering a cancer-fighting compound.
In a 14-week program led by Professor Brian Murphy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, underrepresented students from the Boys and Girls Club collected and analyzed environmental samples to search for new antibiotic candidates.
One student brought in a goose poop sample, which contained a bacterium that sparked groundbreaking research, Good Good Good reported. The discovery showed promise in slowing the growth of melanoma and ovarian cancer cells.
The bacterium, Pseudomonas idahoensis, produces a previously unknown molecule named orfamide N. Although not responsible for the sample's antibiotic activity, orfamide N demonstrated the ability to inhibit the growth of cancer cells in lab cultures.
The findings were published in the journal ACS Omega, with student Camarria Williams credited as a co-author.
As a result, Murphy's team plans to conduct further research into orfamide N's pharmacological properties and its potential for synergy with other compounds.
