Someone in the previous lab session threw out my plates, so no data on what’s in my kittie’s guts, and if their different diets affect what lives in them. Had to spend most of the lab sitting on my thumbs waiting for another group to finish so I could use their plate.
Got a [...]
Next lab is on bacteria of the GI tract. People with pets or babies were asked to volunteer to take fecal swabs. I’ve got two cats on different diets, so I’m excited to see if there’s any difference. Awesome wife isn’t phased by this, she even volunteered to be on poo patrol while I’m at [...]
One of the stations at the lab practical last week had us streaking skin swabs onto blood agar. That was my first time using that medium, I’m looking forward to seeing what grew. I chose to swab my chin, since I’ve got a beard, most people don’t pick the chin area, and beards may be [...]
The most recent lab was spent testing antiseptics and disinfectants. We were tasked with bringing in something from home. I didn’t want to be student #1000 who brought in mouthwash or bleach, so I asked myself what would John Wayne do?
He’d bring in the same whiskey he just used to wash out the bullet hole [...]
Tonight we’re going to be using Bergey’s Manual to identify some unknowns. It’s basically the book for bacterial identification and classification. I’ve been wanting to get a look at Bergey’s since the first time I read about it, so I’m super jazzed for lab!
Last night’s lab was spent learning about and inoculating more selective and differential media. We were mainly differentiating based on carbohydrate catabolism using fermentation tubes, MRVP broth, starch agar, OF-glucose media, and Simmon’s citrate. We’ll see the results on Tuesday.
We’re building up a toolbox of techniques we can use to work through a d-key and [...]
Remember the lab practical I was worried about? I still think I should practice the areas I pointed out, but we got our grades back, and I did very well. So, that’s one less thing to worry about.
Finished lab practical #1 last night. I think I did ok, but I did mess up a bit. Here’s where I’m predicting I lost points, and subsequently, what I’ve got to focus on.
Ran out of time before finishing 3rd streak on my streak plate. I’ve got to learn to work a little [...]
We did streak plates earlier this week and I had a blast.
I’d been looking forward to doing a streak plate since before I even fully decided to take a class. Streaking is really basic and easy, but it elegantly solves one of the earliest problems in microbiology, “How do you isolate bacteria from the hodge [...]
Tonight we had an open lab; we could come in, practice anything we wanted, and ask questions about the upcoming test. I decided to get more work on the microscopes.
I crushed them, saw them driven before me, and heard the lamentation of their, uh, women.
I’m still not a master, but I had a much easier [...]
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