Press space or click the orange button for the next generation. Click the pill buttons to administer antibiotics. What the different colours mean: pale blue >> susceptible to all antibiotics red >> resistant to the red pills (rifampin) white >> resistant to the white pills (isoniazid) purple >> multi-drug resistant; resistant to both antibiotics Keep an eye on the number of bacteria - if you reach 300, the patient will die. (300 is the Scratch clone limit so I used it as a game mechanic) Destroy all the bacteria to cure the patient!
What do we do when antibiotics stop working? Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a horrible, tricky little bug that is killing millions of people every year - even though we have many antibiotics to treat it with. How has this happened? Bacteria multiply by cloning themselves. Every so often, a mistake happens during this process called a mutation. These mutations can be neutral, harmful or beneficial to the bacterium - and sometimes, they'll give the bacterium something that allows it to better survive antibiotic treatment. The chance of that happening is around 1 in a million for tuberculosis (1 in 100 for this simulation). But because of how many there are and how quickly they multiply, that becomes more likely than you might think. This is why patients with TB are prescribed more than one kind of antibiotic. For example, if there are some bacteria resistant to rifampin, you can hit them with that isoniazid and that will take care of it. But what if you don't take your full course of medication? What if a small number of bacteria survive? Now they can multiply freely without any competition - and have the chance to acquire more resistant mutations. The selective pressure of antibiotics force the bacteria to evolve. Multidrug-resistant TB is a growing problem in the world and South Africa is among the countries with the highest burden of it. But with more responsible use of antibiotics, we can all contribute to stopping the spread of acquired antibiotic resistance. A great video on antibiotic resistance that I really recommend checking out: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/youtube/xZbcwi7SfZE I made this simulator for a school research project, because I'm fascinated by evolution, and concerned about antibiotic resistance and the TB burden on my country. And I also wanted an excuse to make an evolution simulator project, obviously. I wish I had more time to polish up this project more. As is, it's still rough around the edges and extremely simplified. So if you've got a cool idea to improve it, feel free to remix! I've done extensive research to base this simulation on accurate information, but I'm still just a high school student. If I've grievously misrepresented something in this project or in my explanation, please let me know. Or if you just know a cool fact about this subject, feel free to share in the comments! And of course, if you have any feedback on this project and its visuals/mechanics/controls/whatever, please let me know <3 Have fun growing your own superbug! In this simulation I mean! Don't try this at home kids!
