• Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

Report comparing different growth media, aseptic techniques and laboratory safety with own experiences

Extracts from this document...


﻿Part 1- As the practical work had been carried out in a Category 1 microbiology laboratory, the required aseptic technique was to abide by personal hygiene rules such as washing hands before and after carrying out the three experiments, avoiding eating and drinking within the laboratory and tying the hair back. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that is required, consists of a lab coat; gloves and eye protection is worn if necessary. Also, benches are wiped before and after handling specimen in order to make a cleaner environment. The wastes which have had contact with the specimen are autoclaved before further disposal, this is done to prevent infectious microbes from being released into the environment. In Category 2 laboratories, microbiologists deal with pathogenic and/or infectious microorganisms that tend to have a moderate hazard. Due to their potential to cause diseases in humans, they are dealt with great care to prevent injuries that can be through needle sticks and cuts. ...read more.


Category 3 laboratories are used in working with indigenous agents that are posed to cause serious diseases through inhalation of particles or droplets. Working with these agents are extremely dangerous therefore they are strictly controlled by government agencies. Solid-front wraparound gowns and coveralls produced from material such as respirators are essential PPE. The ventilation system provides directional and controlled air flow through bringing clean air into the lab that has not gone through circulation. When dealing with highly hazardous specimen, the process must be done in a biosafety cabinet. Overall, the aseptic technique which has been used in the experiments in a category 1 laboratory is not as efficient as the techniques used in category 2 & 3 laboratories because they both include dealing with high biohazard specimen which need to be handled delicately in order to prevent infection from spreading. Whereas, in a category 1 laboratory the agents that were being handled with, were low hazard and therefore the precaution that was taken was to a low standard. ...read more.


This culturing technique is especially used for the aeration of liquids which have volumes that are greater than 200 ml. Non-Sparged Bioreactors that are mechanically agitated are capable of supplying a sufficient amount of oxygen for liquid volumes of microbial fermentation maximum 3 litres. A disadvantage of it, is that the stirring speed required may be up to 600 rpm before the oxygen for the culture does not become limited. Oxygen enters the fermenter liquid through the above head-space of the bioreactor and the liquid surface is broken via agitation which occurs continuously to increase the surface area and enables oxygen transfer. Sparged Bioreactors provide effective oxygen transfer for volumes of liquid which are more than 3 litres. As bubbles are introduced with the fluid, the oxygen transfer area increases. Agitation enables to break up bubbles and further increase oxygen transfer. Agitation speeds are significantly lower in sparged fermenters to enable efficient aeration when compared to non-sparged fermenters. Overall, the two techniques used are more effective in obtaining a higher yield of microorganisms than the plating technique as oxygen is transferred efficiently in order to allow the growth of the desired microorganism. ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text


Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related AS and A Level Molecules & Cells essays

  1. health and safety in the microbiology department

    Of these, six hepatitis-A infections and one of infectious mononucleosis were attributed to exposure in the general community. In most of these cases no accident leading to infection had been recognised, but the highest incidence rates were found in haematology, biochemistry and mortuary post-mortem workers, the high rate of infection

  2. Spreadsheet report

    I clicked on format, row and selected auto fit so that the suitable height is automatically selected. I then selected column and then auto fit selection so that it would select the suitable column width. Before entering data into the tables I highlighted one by one the columns which would

  1. Growing Micro-organisms

    difficult for the light to pass through the beaker full of yeast cells. 4. How could I present the results? Answer: I could present the results in tables one table will have the transmission and another table will have 1/transmission, there will be a column for days, a column for

  2. Enzymes and Micro-organisms

    phase * Death phase The lag phase is the first stage of the bacteria growth and there isn't that much actual growth at this stage because the microorganisms are just getting used to the environment. So they need this time period to make enzymes which are needed to digest and use up the nutrients supplied by the medium.

  1. Visit report - Bateman's Brewery

    The strain of yeast used by Bateman's Brewery is 'Saccharomyces cerevisiae', which is top fermenting yeast(2). This means that the yeast floats on top of the fermenting vessel as shown: http://www.stpats.com/yeast.htm The yeast floating on top provides protection from the air, and stops gases in the air from causing carbonylation of alcohol into acetic acid (vinegar)

  2. spreadsheet report

    This sheet contains two tables. The first is called Attendances, and this contains the information about the class's attendance. The first two columns contain the pupil's surname and forename. The top row of the table contains labels for the data below.

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work