truemonk at csulb.edu writes:
> As an undergraduate student in a Medical Bacteriology Class: I asked
>why must we do all those silly plates and tubes when we could use a
>single Enterotube II instead. The official answer was:
> 1) You need low tech practice because not all labs are outfitted
>with (quick multitesters)
This is very true. Also, you might get hired by a lab that
doesn't use Enterotubes, but APIs or some other test kit. If you know
what each test is supposed to look like, you'll be less confused than
if you test by trote. And heaven forbid if you should have to
_make up_ a test medium to confirm an ID, even though you used a
test kit. Or the kit might have production problems, or your
lab's order gets misplaced, and you run out...
Also, doing the tests the old-fashioned way makes you THINK
about what you're actually IDing, rather than going through the
motions and reading off a number.
Dorothy Klein
ex-teaching assistant, General Microbiology
Cook College, Rutgers Univ.
