Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello,
One of my students is working on an independent project on the effect of different antibiotics Penicillins, Streptomycin, and Ampicillin on bacterial growth. In order to state her hypothesis, she is searching for what antibiotic out of the three is the best at stopping bacteria from growing. She is having a hard time to find a source to use for her hypothesis.
Any help here? I am going to look for reliable sources she can use, but if anyone could help I would appreciate it.
Thanks

Hello,

I suspect delving into the pharmacology of antibiotics may be needlessly complex at this level. If the hypothesis requires a source to guide it, I suggest looking for other ways to base a hypothesis, such as what types of antibiotics are the most commonly prescribed, or what kinds of antibiotics are given at the lowest doses. Hopefully, expanding the search parameters makes things a little easier.

-Eugene

The answer to that will be invariably penicillin because it is broad-spectrum, and used to treat both gram-positive and gram negative bacteria whereas the others are not. That said, Ampicillin is a Penicillin. Studying the advanced pharmacology will be of help with this.