according to this research you can use the microwave instead of autoclave to sterilize culture media for microbiology, this can save you a lot of time and energy in case you are working in very! tight budget lab.
i will try it ang give feedback about it as soon as it gives results.
#tips_tricks
Microwave does not work (in my experience) with endospores and yeast spores. But a cheap alternative is to use a pressure cooker + a vegetable steamer (so that your media bottles are not touching the bottom of the pressure cooker). Fill it with 3-4 fingers of water and boil away. The ones that you can see the temperature works the best. We still use a pressure cooker in the lab when the autoclave breaks down. A good sized pressure cooker can accomodate up to 3 1L GL45-capped bottles or a 2L erlen.
Cihan
very insightful thank you dr.cihan
currently we are only using bacetria
and so far the results are quite good, and this method saved us a lot of time and effort for our routine culture, we don’t have technicians so the PhD student must do everything from scratch.
i will be happy to try the method you described and share the results later here.
best regards
I use that for expedience instead of using autoclave or the pressure cooker that I have.
My 11 years old posted a video on using the microwave for bacterial media.
I never had any issues with contamination.
You need to make a proper cap with thick aluminum foil and cut the corners round with scissors. I usually autoclave of flame the cap interior.
The other ‘secret’ is not to overboil. I keep my eyes on the flask and my finger on the Open Door button and push when the white foam reaches 2 cm over the liquid. I don’t put more than 1/4 of liquid in the flask. Usually 1-2 minutes is fine for several plates.
To gain time, I sometimes cool down the flask with cold running water so I can add the antibiotic in 30 seconds not in 10 minutes. A silicone glove as in the video helps a lot to stir the flask when the content is very hot. A large flask can overboil when stirred After you take it out of the microwave so be careful.
Sometimes I put a UV lamp inside the microwave for 30 minutes but I think that is unnecessary. I use a dedicated microwave. When I started, I had some minor spills but that is a thing of the past.
Adrian
kudos!!
this is amazing, beside the scientific content
it is really inspiring to see children working with science instead of cellphones and reels
and thanks for the tips, I’ve already added a lot of them in the protocols.io
I have had no issues with media if I added antibiotics but when I tried this with LB plates alone I got growth.
Ellen D. Jorgensen, PhD
Founder & President
Biotech Without Borders
www.biotechwithoutborders.org