Dear All, just a double check. I understand that once the plates have been cultured they can't be re opened for any purpose but must be disposed of by pressure cooker. I am looking in CSIS bookp59. It seems like the only exception could be if you purchase pure culture from risk group one p58- this would be seniors....
You can't open wild cultures from plates that have been exposed around the school and then put material onto microscope slides for viewing can you? just got to get my facts right for obvious reasons...cheers Louie
louie wrote:Dear All, just a double check. I understand that once the plates have been cultured they can't be re opened for any purpose but must be disposed of by pressure cooker. I am looking in CSIS bookp59. It seems like the only exception could be if you purchase pure culture from risk group one p58- this would be seniors....
You can't open wild cultures from plates that have been exposed around the school and then put material onto microscope slides for viewing can you? just got to get my facts right for obvious reasons...cheers Louie
No you can not re-opened any plates, it is most unwise to do so. You not like to spread any thing onto others, cleaners, students, rubbish dump. etc.
Regards
Regards Labbie
Lab Manager/Lab Tech, mind reading etc etc
Now retired
It's always been my understanding that once the plates have been exposed and sealed that they are never to be opened again for any reason. Disposal has been a problem but this website has very useful information with regards to correct disposal of this biological hazard.
Hi
Our students use rain water and garden dirt to put in plates and culture them. I talked to a microbiologist and asked him how should I dispose them and he said because those bacteria are already around they don't need to be strilized before disposing and suggested just wrap them up and put them in garbage bin.
cheers
Marjan
If you have used nice clean sterile, clear petri dishes, then you might get a good view of the cultures THROUGH the lids, uneer a binocular microscope. These usually have lower magnification, but might be sufficient to see the cultures without having to open up the containers.
One of the local labbies (from Holsworthy High) put me on to the idea of using Peppercorn infusion as a live culture. Soak 20g of peppercorns in 200mL water at room temp for several days or overnight in incubator. The bacteria is Bacillus subtilis, which is a gram-positive rod. It grows well on Nutrient Agar. Because the bacteria occurs naturally in food that we eat, it is not partiularly harmful to humans, and can be disposed of by soaking the open plates in "Home Brand" Disinfectant for several days. Robyn Mariner from Holsworthy did tests and showed that Woolies "Home Brand" disinfectant was actually more effective than any of the named brands at killing Bacillus Suptilis! (and cheaper!)
Another advantage is that you can simulate "Antibiotic disks" by simply soaking a small circle of blotting paper/filter paper in disinfectant and placing it on the innoculated agar plate. Cheap and effective!