Week #9 Thoughtful Tangible Tangents

"Your Honor, I object: relevance..." "Overruled!" Okay, I admit it, this week's blog is not related to my project but it is science-worthy nonetheless. I tested myself to see if I was a carrier of Streptococcus pyogenes. I did this for two reasons, 1) it was the next lab we completed in Microbiology after the one I am doing for my project and 2) I also wanted to confirm the results.

I took a sample from the back of my throat and let it grow on BAP and then isolated a colony and streaked another plate. Upon incubation, I took the pure specimen and performed the lawn technique on another BAP. I then placed a Bacitracin antibiotic disc on one side and an Optochin disc on the other. Streptococcus pyogenes is susceptible to Bacitracin while Streptococcus pneumoniae is susceptible to the Optochin. I observed no zone of inhibition around the Optochin disc and recorded 1.5 cm zone of inhibition around the Bacitracin disc. This highly suggests that I am a carrier of Streptococcus pyogenes. Isn't that exciting? Don't worry I won't kiss and tell...