Team: 38
School: Justice Code/International/Harrison
Area of Science: Microbiology
Interim: Team Number: 38
Team Members: Mekhi Bradford, Kingsley Walker, Ifesinachi Egbo
Sponsor Name: Brown, Campbell, Palmer
Science Focus: Microbiology
2022-2023 NM SuperComputing Challenge Interim Report
Finding methods that will enable us to predict and stop the spread of infectious diseases and viruses that are resistant to treatment will be one of the challenges that we will need to overcome with this project. The search for methods that can be used to protect oneself against infectious diseases and viruses exemplifies yet another one of our many challenges. We are going to develop a model that will demonstrate how a virus can mutate into a form that is resistant to the drugs that are currently being used to treat it. In addition to that, the model will illustrate how to take precautions in order to forestall the spread of an epidemic.
In addition to this, we will need to take into consideration the fact that everyone's immune system is completely different from other people's. The likelihood that an individual will become ill as a direct result of an infection varies greatly from person to person due to the fact that every person has an immune system that is as distinctive as their fingerprint. This is because each individual possesses a distinct immune system that is responsible for protecting them from illness. We also need to consider travel because, in today's world, people are able to travel at a faster pace, which makes it easier for a virus to spread from one person to the next. This is something that we need to include in our model. This is an important point that requires our attention. As a consequence of this, travel is a factor that needs to be taken into consideration.
One of the topics that the other members of my team and I have been investigating together is the possibility that viruses will undergo genetic changes, in addition to the prospect that viruses will spread from one area to another. This will be very important for us to have in order for us to be able to use realistic factors in our model, for things such as infection and mutation rates, amongst other things.
We anticipate that this will serve as a model that others can use to educate themselves on how viruses spread, how to prevent viruses, and how to prevent them from becoming an epidemic and potentially drug-resistant. Others have the potential to improve their own education by making use of this resource, which is why it is important to make it available.
SOURCES
Infectious disease expert Justin Schmetterer
https://www.cdc.gov/groupastrep/diseases-public/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/groupastrep/diseases-public/necrotizing-fasciitis.html
https://www.uu.nl/en/news/our-immune-system-is-as-unique-as-a-fingerprint-or-our-dna
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5328245/
Team Members:
Sponsoring Teacher: Caia Brown