Control of microbial growth lab

control of microbial growth lab

Introduction

In this lab, you will learn about the various methods to help control microbe growth along with the way to test the effectiveness of those methods. Before attempting the lab, you should make sure that you know the general methods that will be used and all of the basic mechanisms when dealing with the controlling of microorganism growth. Without knowing this, you will surely be lost when performing the lab. You also must know the relative resistance of microbes in regards to the many control methods used in this lab. In a scenario that one may want to lower or limit the microbial growth would include left over/stored food previously cooked, drinking water, or even an incision from a surgical procedure. Physical methods that can be used of microbial control are the temperature and irradiation. To help the skin prepare prior to the drawing of the blood, you would use an antiseptic solution. Lastly, you learn about protein synthesis and how it as a form of antibiotic that disrupts the ribosomal activity that would’ve had the more direct effect.

Methods/Materials

With this lab, it is important the student learns how to use and recognize the purpose an ultraviolet light is used for. The UV light effects the microbes on a molecular level. The student will discover and observe the various uses of a ultraviolet light. This lab gave me the chance to observe and test various levels of the UV light exposure on bacterial species and how the light affected their growth in the process. You inoculate many agar plates that contained a bacterial lawn. You then have to expose half of your plates to the ultraviolet lamp for a distinct period of time. During this, the other half of your plates are to be covered so that can be your control in the experiment. This is so you have something to compare your results to when the experiment is completed. Once the UV incubation process is over, you then observe how the different lengths of ultraviolet light exposure had on the growth of the bacteria in each of the plates. You then will compare these plates to your control group. Afterwards, you make your conclusions.

Materials for this lab include:

-Sharpie - On/Off Switch

- Change Burner -Piece of Paper

- Tube -Cotton Swab

- Petri Dish -UV Light

Results

In my first attempt at this experiment, I messed up a lot. I had not fully memorized the correct aseptic techniques that should be used when doing this lab. According to the image below, it appears the UV light kills the bacterial sample to longer it sits under the UV light.

Discussion/Conclusion

This lab report was an interesting one to do. I had no idea the affect UV light had on bacteria. At first, I was kind of confused on this experiment but after a few attempts I think I got it. I would honestly like to try this lab in a real life setting just to see the effects in person. I learned a lot of material about UV light and UV waves. It is very important to label your samples because if not, you will be very confused as to which sample is which. The aseptic techniques were difficult for me to grasp at first, probably because it is due to the virtual lab part sometimes confuses me instructions wise. Overall, I would recommend this experiment to others!

Work Cited

M. (n.d.). Control of Microbial Growth. Retrieved April 13, 2018, from http://www.mhlearnsmart.com/flow/binrunner.html?pixi=0&isbn=1259337782&title=&deck_id=&learnsmart_id=12981612&learnsmarturl=www.mhlearnsmart.com&parisId=26183570&instructorParisId=6418639§ion_id=99815457&assignment_id=200100798&newals=0&paamskin=&first_name=Dylan&last_name=Todd&email=dmtodd20@gmail.com&password=&type=S&salt=816046093&key=0f0c3c19eab5398fec1f7442853f5b3a&assignmentDueDate=2018-04-16 03:59:00&studentExtensionDate=&isBlackBoardUrl=false&ebookLinkUrl=http://connect.mheducation.com/connect/hmEBook.do§ionURL=http://connect.mheducation.com/connect/hmStudentSectionHomePortal.do?sectionId=99815457§ionName=18SPCMP BIO-299 5&libraryURL=&preview=&plan=0&externalProductId=A9S0004102