Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

For my experiment, I am going to grow yeast and expose it to Electromagnetic waves to see if the waves have an effect on the yeast's growth. What is a cheap (preferably easy) way to differentiate between the living yeast and the dead yeast?

Hi,

Methylene blue is the most commonly used vital stain to distinguish living from dead yeast cells. Here is a technical note from a company that sells scientific supplies comparing methylene blue with two other stains, Tryphan blue and methylene blue. Vital stains do not stain viable cells, but will stain,non-viable yeast cells, so you can see the difference when using a microscope.. Note that the information contains data to show that all of the stains give comparable results.

https://www.beckmancoulter.com/wsrporta ... Ta-204.doc

Carolina Biologicals offers the dye and ready-to-use staining solutions.

http://www.carolina.com/

You can find other vital stains by doing an internet search for "vital stains for yeast."

It sounds like you are doing a very interesting science project. Please post again if you need any additional information.

Donna Hardy