The Effects of Red Light Therapy on the Growth of Staphylococcus Epidermidis
School Name
Spring Valley High School
Grade Level
10th Grade
Presentation Topic
Physiology and Health
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
Despite red light therapy being a fairly well-established treatment in the field of medicine, little is known on how it can combat a bacterial infection because it is still so new. Red light therapy has a wide range of effects due to its photodynamic properties. The purpose of this study was to determine if red light therapy acts as an effective bactericide to Staphylococcus epidermidis, a common bacteria strain that leads to millions of infections a year, and to quantify the dosage of light that would be most effective. It was hypothesized that red light exposure acts as an effective bactericide to Staphylococcus epidermidis because of its photodynamic properties. The colony count after exposure to red light will decrease significantly due to bright light exposure and its anti-inflammatory effects. Staphylococcus epidermidis was streaked onto mannitol salt agar plates and incubated. The colony count was observed directly before exposure to red light and then 24 hours after. In Table 2, a One-way ANOVA with an alpha value of 0.05 gave a p-value <0.001 for the results. The null hypothesis was rejected, and it was concluded that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that red light therapy has antibacterial effects on S. epidermidis.
Recommended Citation
Tangri, Dhruv, "The Effects of Red Light Therapy on the Growth of Staphylococcus Epidermidis" (2024). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 523.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2024/all/523
Location
RITA 373
Start Date
3-23-2024 11:00 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
Group Project
No
The Effects of Red Light Therapy on the Growth of Staphylococcus Epidermidis
RITA 373
Despite red light therapy being a fairly well-established treatment in the field of medicine, little is known on how it can combat a bacterial infection because it is still so new. Red light therapy has a wide range of effects due to its photodynamic properties. The purpose of this study was to determine if red light therapy acts as an effective bactericide to Staphylococcus epidermidis, a common bacteria strain that leads to millions of infections a year, and to quantify the dosage of light that would be most effective. It was hypothesized that red light exposure acts as an effective bactericide to Staphylococcus epidermidis because of its photodynamic properties. The colony count after exposure to red light will decrease significantly due to bright light exposure and its anti-inflammatory effects. Staphylococcus epidermidis was streaked onto mannitol salt agar plates and incubated. The colony count was observed directly before exposure to red light and then 24 hours after. In Table 2, a One-way ANOVA with an alpha value of 0.05 gave a p-value <0.001 for the results. The null hypothesis was rejected, and it was concluded that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that red light therapy has antibacterial effects on S. epidermidis.
