Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I have been doing lots of research on cyanobacteria and I haven't found a good source on how to grow them. How can I grow cyanobacteria, and if I can, what do I need to do so?

Hi armanioliva,

Most of the contributors to the Physical Science section of this forum are physicists, chemists, engineers, etc. Although some may have expertise in biology, I think you might find more help with this question in the Life, Earth and Social Science section of the forum.

I hope this helps. Please post again if you have more questions.

A. Norman

Hi there!

I just happened to see your post, I'm one of the experts on the life sciences page (and a microbiologist). Like A. Norman said you might want to repost over there. However I will try to answer here.

Cyanobacteria can be difficult to grow. There are many different cyanobacteria strains and I was able to find some that are biosafety level 1 on ATCC.org linked here http://www.atcc.org/Search_Results.aspx ... ia&redir=1. They are very expensive however.

A few questions for you. What are you thinking of doing for a project? Have you read the science buddies guide for growing microbes? You can check it out a few resourses here: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ques.shtml Depending on what kind of project you are thinking of doing, there are other types of strains that are much easier to grow, such as E. coli K12 (and less expensive too).

Let us know how we can help!
Nikki