Presenter: Bianca Durrant, College of Sciences, Physics
Authors: Bianca Durrant, Sean Bennion and Dustin Shipp
Faculty Advisor: Dustin Shipp, College of Sciences, Physics
Institution: Utah Valley University
Raman spectroscopy is a versatile tool to analyze subcellular biochemistry. It uses a laser light source to non-invasively illuminate the sample. This generates a small amount of Raman scattered light through an inelastic scattering process. This detected Raman scattered light creates a Raman spectrum which is a unique fingerprint for each molecule. The spectrum from a bacterial cell is a superposition from all molecules in the cell, allowing the cell's chemistry to be analyzed and used for classification. This research investigates multiple species of bacteria using Raman spectroscopy. We present the detected biochemical similarities and differences between these species. We will also discuss progress towards a machine learning program which can distinguish between multiple bacteria species. Such a program with Raman spectroscopy could be implemented in hospitals in order to detect bacteria earlier and therefore, reduce the usage of antibiotics and can help with the reduction of multiresistant bacteria.