Today was an exciting and productive day in the ‘Bacteria World’. I met at the lab technician at Westminster University - Cavendish campus and poured about 35-40 agar plates. We poured two different types of agar, (one was called a neutral or LB agar and one is called macconkey's agar) to experiment with and see which one produces the best growth from finger print micro-flora and randomly swabbed objects.
The agar was in a steamer (at 100°C) to bring it to a liquid state and then poured in a special box called a Laminar Flow Cabinet that blows clean air across it to help the agar stay clean while it’s poured and sets up so no unwanted and unknown bacteria grows on it. Apparently agar is just a seaweed extract and yeast that acts like a super food for the bacteria to feed off and grow at a more rapid rate then it naturally would in the environment. After it was poured it cooled in a few minutes and turned into a jelly like substance. (I spilled it when I was pouring it but no one seemed to mind too much.) After it cooled we stored in in a refrigerator that is 4°C (like a normal household one) and upside down so that if condensation formed it won’t drip water (that could be infected) onto the agar and ruin it. Apparently, even while bacteria grows that is how it is stored for the same reason but while we timelapse it we will have to store it the other way to photograph the growth.