We are a small brewery looking to add basic microbiological analysis to our QA/QC program. To do this we need to set up a lab capable of plating out samples while minimizing possible contamination. Ideally a laminar flow hood would be best but as a small brewery the cost is currently too high. I am looking for creative ideas that people have used to create a “clean space” to plate samples for microbiological analysis. Have people had good results just opening the Petri dishes quickly on the benchtop?
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Lab Setup - creating clean space for micro work
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microbiology tips
I second the vote for old school microbiology. Laminar flow hoods are really overkill here. So as a tip for handling petri dishes store them upside down (with the empty lid as the base and the agar side on top). Disinfect your lab bench before and after working, wash your hands turn on the bunsen and minimize the time cultures are open. Any chance airborn contamination from handling plates you get will be easily outnumbered by actual contamination (of beer) if you have it. Probably the biggest source of contamination is malt dust...so keep your lab seperate from the mill.
Cheers
Joe
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Bunsen burner (or a propane torch in a pinch), spray bottle of 70% ethanol, a clean work surface away from traffic and grain dust. Hoods are fun, but not really necessary if you practice sterile technique. A big pressure canner works great as an autoclave. eBay has small incubators on the cheap if you keep an eye out. Same goes for microscopes and hemacytometers.
Anyways, good luck!
dan g
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Lab equipment
Another good place for hemacytometers is Cynmar. In fact I get most of my lab stuff from them. Cynmar beat Fisher Sci. and VWR prices by a long shot. And of course craigslist. My only personal concern with buying used lab stuff is that what was it used for? It often needs some kind of decontamination.
I have picked up used centrifuges with dried up blood still in them. Not to mention found miscelaneous lab items to actually be radioactive. I was doing a routine survey after using isotope and found a centrifuge bucket to be hot. So I put it in the decay box for 10 half lives and guess what it was still hot. So it wasn't contaminated with the isotope i was using but something much more radioactive and long lived. No one in the lab knew about it and and it was probably at least 20 years old, just sitting around in the lab giving everyone free X-rays. I could probably go on for hours about things I have found in labs over the years. Its always the same story too, no one ever knows about it. So some of this 'used' lab equipment may be more than you bargained for.
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Yep, Cynmar is a great place.
Keep an eye out for lab auctions too. Lots of biotech companies spring up, spend a ton of money, then go under....how do I know this? Anyways, I've bought unopened cases of brand spanking new pyrex glassware, corning stirplates, unopened pipettes, etc for next to nothing.
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