Building blocks of biofilms – an engaging and hands-on microbiology outreach activity for school children and the general public
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Biofilms are naturally occurring communities of micro-organisms, attached to a surface and often embedded in a matrix of self-produced polymeric substances. Biofilms are widely implicated in human infections, particularly on prostheses and medical implants. Such biofilms are difficult to eradicate, often leading to replacement of the prosthesis and resulting in a significant burden to healthcare. Here we present a fun and engaging interactive activity targeted toward primary school/early secondary school children, introducing the concept of natural and healthcare-associated biofilms, using dental plaque as an archetypal example. Dental plaque forms as a result of poor oral/dental hygiene, and develops according to a typical series of defined stages: attachment and adherence to the surface, followed by colonization and maturation of the biofilm structure, and eventually, dispersal. This activity uses dental disclosing tablets to visualize real biofilms (plaque) on the participants teeth, and uses interlocking building-blocks to represent microorganisms, where children build three-dimensional ‘biofilms’ of varying shapes and structural integrities. Each of the stages of development are discussed in detail, and after building the biofilms, balls of different shapes, sizes and weights can be used as ‘antimicrobials’ to disrupt the biofilm structure. The outcomes of the activity are to enhance knowledge and general understanding of biofilms; their ubiquitous presence in the natural environment, development, implications in healthcare, and challenges of treatment. The various ‘antimicrobial’ balls also provide a basis to introduce and discuss drug selection for infections, and the importance of using the correct antimicrobial for different infections to avoid development of resistance.
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The work presented is clear and the arguments well formed. This study would be a valuable contribution to the existing literature. This is a study that would be of interest to the field and community. All comments by the reviewers were satisfactorily addressed.
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The work presented is clear and the arguments well formed. This study would be a valuable contribution to the existing literature. This is a study that would be of interest to the field and community. The reviewers have highlighted major concerns with the work presented. Please ensure that you address their comments. This manuscript is interesting and well-written, a great example of innovative public engagement. Few major changes are needed before acceptance: 1. In the Introduction - increase public engagement, why do we need to tell children about science? And biofilms? 2. Give few more details about the participants. 3. Reduce the size of the Required materials section. 5. In Evaluation - please include any feedback from the participants if available. 6. In Conclusion - increase discussion, add 10-15 more references.
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Comments to Author
I like this as it seems a very accessible way to teach children about microbiology and biofilms. I do have a couple of specific comments that are listed below. line 101 - ping pong --> table tennis. line 147 - it is stated that the educator can introduce the concept of persister/resistant cells, but that concept is not explained in appendix 1. This appendix needs a section on resistance and antimicrobials, and it needs to be clarified why different types of balls can be used in the exercise. Appendix 1 - there is some terminology that not every educator may be familiar with, such as van der Waals forces (line 59). On line 105, the terms facultative and fastidious do not seem necessary. Line 120. Typo: alto --> also Figure S2 - It would be helpful to add some labelled arrows to the image, with …
Comments to Author
I like this as it seems a very accessible way to teach children about microbiology and biofilms. I do have a couple of specific comments that are listed below. line 101 - ping pong --> table tennis. line 147 - it is stated that the educator can introduce the concept of persister/resistant cells, but that concept is not explained in appendix 1. This appendix needs a section on resistance and antimicrobials, and it needs to be clarified why different types of balls can be used in the exercise. Appendix 1 - there is some terminology that not every educator may be familiar with, such as van der Waals forces (line 59). On line 105, the terms facultative and fastidious do not seem necessary. Line 120. Typo: alto --> also Figure S2 - It would be helpful to add some labelled arrows to the image, with an explanation in the legend, so that this is clear for the educator what they are looking at. It may also not be obvious to everyone that this is polymicrobial - use arrows top point out eg rods and cocci. On the poster, individual microbes in panel C are not obvious, a different image would be better.
Please rate the manuscript for methodological rigour
Good
Please rate the quality of the presentation and structure of the manuscript
Good
To what extent are the conclusions supported by the data?
Strongly support
Do you have any concerns of possible image manipulation, plagiarism or any other unethical practices?
No
Is there a potential financial or other conflict of interest between yourself and the author(s)?
No
If this manuscript involves human and/or animal work, have the subjects been treated in an ethical manner and the authors complied with the appropriate guidelines?
Yes
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Comments to Author
Thank you for taking the time to write this manuscript, it's really important for the microbiology community to hear about outreach activities. The activity described in this manuscript is relevant to both the scientific community and school children and so is a lovely example of public engagement. I feel the manuscript would be better written from the perspective of 'this is what we did', rather than a 'pick off the self activities'. Major comments Introduction - increase public engagement, why do we need to tell children about science? And biofilms? (could link to science capital here - see Archer papers), what has already been done. I think the intro should be 40% biofilm 60% public engagement. Participants- after the introduce please include a section on the country, age, setting and number of …
Comments to Author
Thank you for taking the time to write this manuscript, it's really important for the microbiology community to hear about outreach activities. The activity described in this manuscript is relevant to both the scientific community and school children and so is a lovely example of public engagement. I feel the manuscript would be better written from the perspective of 'this is what we did', rather than a 'pick off the self activities'. Major comments Introduction - increase public engagement, why do we need to tell children about science? And biofilms? (could link to science capital here - see Archer papers), what has already been done. I think the intro should be 40% biofilm 60% public engagement. Participants- after the introduce please include a section on the country, age, setting and number of participants. Also the average group size for the activity etc, so reader can get a picture of what you sessions looked like in terms of the participants Required materials - I feel this section is too long and given too much space in the paper, condense and rewrite as past tense (what you did) and merge with the next section Practical activity - rewrite as past tense and focus on what you did, it might be useful to have subheading for each of the different activities. Please include figures in the section (fig 1 and 2 are great), some of the supplementary material could be used as figures in this section. Evaluation - You have not done any detailed evaluation of the activity which is a real shame as a section after the practical on feedback would really benefit the paper and the discussion. Could you put in some ethics to able to ask the teachers what they thought of the activity and then you could analysis and include some quotes? Or do you already have some you could include (this is hinted at)? Community resources - write a section before the conclusion entitled "community resources" - here you can include links to the resources you have made in the resources and frame it as open access resources. Are people ok to use and adapt these as they see fit? Also include in this section the safety paragraph. Conclusion - increase discussion, include an overview of what the resource is and how it supports public engagement. References - increase links to public engagement literature - I would like to see 10 -20 references please Minor comments Key words: public engagement (rather than treatment)
Please rate the manuscript for methodological rigour
Satisfactory
Please rate the quality of the presentation and structure of the manuscript
Poor
To what extent are the conclusions supported by the data?
Partially support
Do you have any concerns of possible image manipulation, plagiarism or any other unethical practices?
No
Is there a potential financial or other conflict of interest between yourself and the author(s)?
No
If this manuscript involves human and/or animal work, have the subjects been treated in an ethical manner and the authors complied with the appropriate guidelines?
Yes
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