Working with bacterial colonies

So, I'm doing some lab work with bacterial colonies and it's got me wondering just how risky this actually is... I've been working without gloves, though I am wearing a mask. I have this old wound on my left hand from about a year ago—it took five stitches back then—and naturally, the color doesn't quite match the rest of my skin. Since we're constantly handling these bacteria, would it be smarter to start wearing gloves, even if the wound is closed? After I finish up, I wash my hands with Palmolive 🙄 soap and then follow up with an antiseptic.

The risk?

You’re most likely dealing with some kind of E. coli—probably just a standard lab strain, which is totally harmless in this context. Honestly, if you're feeling a bit jittery about it, just toss on some gloves. That is, assuming you aren't allergic to latex or whatever! 😛

Man, I still remember how much of a nerve-wracker it was doing those microbe labs. We were messing around with stuff like anthracite back when that whole thing was blowing up in the news here in the States... but honestly, looking back at our school years, nobody actually got sick from anything (unless you count a two-year incubation period 😕). Plus, we weren't even wearing gloves because they never bothered to give us any 😠

nimbledriver81 said:It’s probably just E. coli. A lab strain, totally harmless. If you're really worried about it, just throw on some gloves. Assuming you aren't allergic... 😛

Not quite. A buddy of mine picked up Staph (from a contaminated surface onto the equipment, obviously).

Honestly, I don't think you’re looking at any major danger if you're just handling things with your bare hands. As long as that wound is closed up tight, you should be fine. The main thing is just making sure you scrub up and disinfect after you're done working. A super easy way to handle both washing and sanitizing on the fly is to just keep a little travel pack of Purell hand sanitizer in your pocket. Just give your hands a quick spray, rub it in, and you're good to go! Carry on!

I'd say you probably need to be wearing a mask over your nose or maybe a cap while you're doing all that work in the lab. You want the mask because some of those bacterial colonies can kick up aerosols when you're messing with them, and you really don't want to be breathing that stuff in. And definitely grab a cap, too—we all have that habit of unconsciously running our hands through our hair, and hair can basically become a breeding ground for whatever you're working with, which you could then accidentally spread around the lab or even take home with you.

You’ve already been exposed enough to be immune to those specific bacteria... As for me, I’ve been working side-by-side with Salmonella for several years now on a daily basis... and I haven't come down with a single thing yet.

Look, you can always just buy some gloves if you want to. They’re honestly useful to have on hand regardless. You’ll definitely want them for those dissection labs in biology class—formaldehyde can be pretty harsh on your skin, so it’s better to have that barrier. Plus, when you're dissecting something like a pigeon, you really shouldn't be doing it without gloves. 😬

Personally, I’ve never dealt with any kind of contamination. If you just act like a normal, sensible person, you shouldn't run into any issues.
Just make sure you scrub your workspace and your hands before you start so you don't ruin your sample. Do the same thing once you're finished. Don't bring food or drinks into the lab, and for heaven's sake, don't go poking your fingers into the petri dishes or cultures... It's simple: if you pay attention to what you're doing, you'll be fine. I haven't heard of anyone getting contaminated who was actually following basic protocol.
The samples you get from the university aren't (or at least, shouldn't be) pathogenic, so the actual risk level is pretty low.
By the way, I think some basic Dawn soap and some rubbing alcohol should be more than enough for what you guys are doing.

Our teaching assistant at the university made a rather blunt observation the other day; she suggested that they wouldn't even dream of assigning us pathogenic strains to study because we were simply too soft. To be perfectly honest, the woman wasn't wrong...

Lisa Richardson8 said:One of our teaching assistants at university straight up told us they wouldn't even dream of handing out pathogenic strains to us because we were too soft. Honestly? She wasn't wrong.

Besides, dealing with pathogens requires specialized labs, high-end equipment, and specific permits anyway. It’s expensive, complicated, and frankly, a massive headache.

It was certainly a clever little tactic to ensure we took things seriously...

Lisa Richardson8 said:That was a pretty clever way to get everyone to take things seriously...

If you guys are going to be this flippant, I’d be happy to sober you up with some gruesome photos of nasty infections straight out of a pathology textbook. 😁
Honestly, that kind of scare tactic is so effective it might actually cause the person doing the scaring to pass out. 🙂

darkbison81 said:If you all are going to be this flippant, I might just have to scare some sense into you by showing you some lovely photos of horrific infections straight out of a pathology textbook.😁
Honestly, that level of intimidation is so effective it might actually cause the person doing the scaring to faint first.🙂

I recall those being our very first lab exercises in microbiology... As for that information regarding non-pathogenic strains, I was merely given it "on a need-to-know basis." After all, how are you supposed to frighten the younger generation when they feel like it’s all happening to someone else?

I suspect the greater risk here is actually compromising the integrity of the culture itself.

shadowfalcon33 said:I feel like the bigger risk here is actually messing up the culture itself.

Sure, but luckily we aren't doing anything incredibly complex during these lab sessions (at least not back in my day), so even if that happened, it wouldn't be the end of the world.😁

(Honestly though, nothing beats the pure dread of realizing you’ve contaminated a specific soy strain stock culture that's a total nightmare to rebuild 🙄 only to realize you didn't notice for the first few weeks or months.😬 )

My corn agar batch was a total bust. Starting over the day after tomorrow 😠 😁