>How you all can discern so much from so little baffles me. The notion that this
>cannot be done by a high school student in a safe manner appalls me. I think if
>we could refer a student to a knowledgeable person at the university level or in
>microbial QC in industry, we could assure that safe practices could be followed.
>No-one said anything about taking media home (unless you include the potato
>thingy!).
I agree with this. No one has ever said where this student will be
doing this experiment.
>I think a warning about the problems one can encounter when growing isolates
>from an environment, pathogenicity and sheer numbers on the plate is advisable,
>but to call the student an "ignorant kid" and potentially frighten them off
>what could be an interesting project, much less from approaching this
>"knowledgeable" NG source for advice is a big mistake.
I don't think we should be pushing students away from learning. This
experiment would be very rewarding to the student but it does require
quite a high level of supervision.
>Simply put,
>>Hey Rif,
>>1) Because of inherent dangers of some microorganisms, perhaps you should
>contact someone at the Univ. level to guide you through the project. Some Univ.
>folks still consider themselves educators and would be glad to help you develop
>your project.
>>2) Like they say on TV; Don't try this at home.
>>3) You interest in microbiology can be very rewarding as bacteria are the
>dominant, most diverse form of life on the planet.
>>4) Ignore those few ignoramuses that discourage your interests; while there are
>dangers in dealing with bacteria, fungi, these can be overcome in the proper
>setting; some folks just want to protect their knowledge base. Like voodoo
>priests; they fear teaching you will steal their power.
Yes Riff, Don't be put off by those people who are trying to
discourage you. I personally never take any notice of people who yell
to get their point across and would never listen to a person who
swears to make a point, it shows that they have nothing intelligent to
say anyway (this is good both in newsgroups and in the real world).
This would be a very worthwhile experiment for you to learn about
microbiology, but BE CAREFUL. If you expose any plates to the air and
grow them up then you should seal them and never open them. You can
seal the plates with celotape all the way around the plate so nothing
can escape and I would also suggest contacting someone at the
university for advice.
