The Surette lab is beaming after hearing that Maggie Williams, a grade 11 student from Ancaster high school, won a Gold Medal at this year’s Bay Area Science and Education Fair. Maggie has spent the last 4 months working in the Surette lab on her project entitled The Role of Fabric in the Prevention of Nosocomial Illness: Environmentally-Friendly Solutions. As part of her project, Maggie exposed various types of bacteria, including E.coli and Staphylococcus aureus, to different types of fabrics to see which were best able to prevent their growth. According to her research, fabrics made from natural fibres touted to have antibacterial activity did not prevent bacterial survival; however, silver and copper impregnated fabric did kill these bacteria. Hospital garments made of antibacterial fabric could reduce nosocomial transmission of pathogens.
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