The Living Library: Investigating Rewilded Ecosystems as Sources

of Novel Medicinal Compounds

Problem

• Antibiotic resistance is a global crisis; most frontline drugs come from soil microbes, fungi, and plants.

• Biodiversity loss = loss of undiscovered cures.

• Rewilding restores ecosystems, but no one has tested whether it also restores medical discovery potential.

 

Objectives

1. Compare biodiversity of soil microbes/fungi in rewilded vs. degraded ecosystems.

2. Screen isolates for antimicrobial activity/hit rate.

3. Test whether habitat complexity (litter depth, canopy cover, coarse woody debris) predicts activity.

4. Translate findings into policy and community engagement, reframing rewilding as health infrastructure.

 

Methods & Timeline (6 weeks)

• Sites: 1 rewilded, 1 degraded (10 plots each).

• Weeks 1–2: Field sampling (soils, habitat metrics, fungal vouchers).

• Weeks 2–5: Culture isolates, crude extracts, antimicrobial assays vs. E. coli, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa.

• Weeks 5–6: Analyze hit rates, habitat links; prepare dataset, policy brief, community presentation.

 

Significance & Innovation

• Novel: No prior study has connected rewilding to drug discovery pipelines.

• Timely: Rewilding is a young movement; affordable bioassays now make this feasible.

• Impact: Provides proof-of-concept data showing restoration can revive ecosystems as “living libraries” of chemical diversity.

 

Leadership & Impact

• Policy Briefs: Accessible summary for conservation & public health partners.

• Community Engagement: Presentation to land trusts and student groups.

• Peer Mentorship: Involve fellow students in interdisciplinary field and lab work.

• Narrative Shift: From rewilding = “saving nature” to rewilding = “saving cures.”

 

Expected Outcomes

• Scientific: Evidence of higher bioactivity in rewilded soils.

• Practical: Ranked list of bioactive isolates and dataset.

• Societal: New argument for restoration funding tied to public health.

• Personal: Growth as an interdisciplinary leader.

 

Closing Statement

This project reframes rewilding as a driver of medical innovation. By testing whether restored ecosystems yield higher antimicrobial activity than degraded ones, I will generate pilot data at the frontier of ecology and medicine. Through policy briefs, community engagement, and peer leadership, I aim to show that rewilding protects not just biodiversity, but the cures of tomorrow.