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Microbiology used in research

Incessant research is being done to identify new diseases and discover cures for them, while finding better treatments for existing diseases.

Researchers must study the growth of bacteria or microorganisms and also study the most appropriate treatment to reverse the growth of these bacteria in the laboratory before placing the resulting product on the market. Microbiology media are basically all nutrients that could also be in solid form and that can provide nutrition for the growth of these bacteria, so various tests can be done with these bacteria in the laboratory.

There are different forms of microbiology media that can be used in laboratories depending on the needs of the researchers. This medium usually contains animal blood, beef extract, milk, distilled water, peptones and other proteins and amino acids to provide energy, although in different combinations. These media can be in liquid, semi-solid or solid form and generally contain a solidifying agent in the form of agar agar or gelatin. Basically, there are three types of media that can provide nutrition to various forms of microorganisms in a controlled manner, namely, live media, natural culture media, and synthetic culture media.

There are several industries that require means of microbiology, not only to study the presence and harmful effects of dangerous bacteria such as E. coli, etc., but also to find effective treatments against these bacteria. The humble Petri dish filled with the right medium and in which these bacteria can thrive is actually the first line in the fight against various life-threatening diseases before testing is done on animals or humans.

There are several types of microbiological media that use agar-agar as a solidifying agent. Depending on the bacteria that are grown, this may be MacConkey Agar, which is used to identify the presence of enteric bacteria. This medium also promotes the growth of lactose fermenting bacteria which can give this medium a red color. Another medium is eosin methylene blue agar that contains lactose and peptones and takes on a dark shade of purple or green due to the presence of Gram negative bacteria. Then there is the blood agar that contains 5% sheep blood with peptones. Several types of bacteria inhabit this medium, and while some bacteria leave red blood cells on blood agar, others change their composition in various ways that can be studied in more detail. There are several other types of media that are used for the growth of specific bacteria depending on the needs of researchers.

Microbiology media is a vital requirement for industries like microbiology, pharmaceutical, diagnostic laboratories, etc. These experiments can determine the reasons for the rapid growth of various bacteria, as well as search for treatments that could include antibiotics that work against the specified bacteria without causing serious side effects. The result could be better drugs designed to attack the disease without harming the patient.

In any type of research involving microorganisms, the appropriate form of microbiological medium is needed to learn more about the characteristics of that organism and then find an effective remedy. Researchers can now choose ready-made media to start and finish their experiments in the shortest time possible.