'I can genuinely say that the subway seat was the most shocking discovery,' CM, who runs the_lab_life1, told Newsweek.
Photos of the bacteria that that grew after CM swabbed her boss's wallet and her boyfriend's dog.To shed light on these microscopic metropolises, CM collects and cultures the bacteria using a standard protocol:"Once I swab something using a sterile cotton tip applicator, I will spread it onto a nutrient agar plate which supports bacterial growth," she said.
"I make a lawn on the plate, where I basically create a crosshatch design so I know that the entire plate is covered. I will then put the plate in an incubator which is at a specific temperature to allow for growth. It stays in the incubator for usually 24 to 48 hours and then I pull it out and see all the cool bacteria that grow, or lack thereof."
Some of the results have been pretty surprising."Usually, I have a general idea of what might grow based on the surface I am swabbing, so I can genuinely say that the subway seat was the most shocking discovery," CM said."I thought it would grow a wide array of bacteria, some even being pathogenic, but I was pleasantly surprised that almost nothing grew on the plate.
She added that the conditions used for the plates might not be suitable for all types of bacteria, but the experiments still give you a rough idea of what microbes might be present on a particular surface. Photo of CM, who runs @the_lab_life1, at her graduation. She is now a Master's student in microbiology.As a microbiologist, CM said that nothing really grosses her out any more when it comes to bacteria. But what have been her top five most disgusting discoveries?"She is a dental clinician, so she is stepping on a lot of different organisms all day long, but the plate that resulted really did gross me out.
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