Just a Phage: A First Year Discovery with Big Potential
In just her first semester at Baylor University, 2025 Zachary High School graduate Eva Godbold has already made a real scientific discovery that could one day help fight antibiotic-resistant infections.
As part of Baylor’s SEA-PHAGES program, Eva discovered a bacteriophage, often shortened to “phage”: a virus that infects and kills bacteria. Phages are found naturally in environments like soil and water, and Eva’s phage was discovered in a soil sample from Zachary she brought back to her lab at Baylor.
She named the phage Mardi, a nod to its Louisiana roots.
What’s the Significance?
Phage therapy is an emerging medical approach that uses bacteriophages to target and destroy specific bacteria, particularly strains that no longer respond to antibiotics. Unlike antibiotics, which can wipe out both harmful and helpful bacteria, phages are highly selective. Each one targets only certain bacteria.What happens next?
This spring, students in the Baylor SEA-PHAGES program will analyze Mardi’s genome by mapping its DNA. Once that analysis is complete, the phage’s genetic information will be published in GenBank, an international scientific database used by researchers around the world.
Mardi is also being sent to Pittsburgh, where other students and researchers will continue studying it, which means Eva’s first-year discovery will contribute to ongoing national research.
A bright future at Baylor
Eva is thrilled that her discovery has already been registered in a scientific journal, which is an extraordinary achievement for a first-year Pre-Med Biology major in the honors program at Baylor. For now, she’s celebrating Mardi, the tiny virus with a big future, and her own promising start in science.
