Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

What is the purpose of the project? I don't really understand it, I need help with understanding what this project is about.
Thank you for the help!

Ok, I see it.
I think the purpose is to explore how bacteriophage effectively destroys bacteria.

So to put it in simpler terms, bacteriophage is a virus that attacks bacteria and destroys it, the purpose of this experiment is probably to observe this process.

Hopefully this helped

Hi there,

The "purpose," or perhaps the "scientific question" for this experiment idea, is: Can phages be used to effectively kill bacteria?

Some possible "hypotheses" relating to this experiment would be that bacteriophages are slower/faster, or need less/more of a dose, to destroy the same amount of bacteria as X antibacterial disinfectant. You could also try them on different types of bacteria, to see if there are measurable differences.

It's simply like a "proof of concept", learning about the biological mechanisms of bacteriophages and assessing how good they are at doing their job. This project idea can easily be expanded upon by asking more detailed questions about how phages work and how you might want to improve the way they work. A lot of our ideas on Science Buddies are that way - you can use it as a launchpad for more ideas!

Hope that helps,

Eugene

for steps under, "24 hours before the experiment," on step 2 does that mean we would need 2 days? this section is kind of confusing. can we do these steps say on Wednesday and then come back to it on Monday or is that too much time?
also, are there alternatives for the Bacterial incubator and the 37°C Water bath, 42°C? I do not think we have access to these materials.

Hello Sciencestudent,

I've merged your most recent question in with the thread from your original question so the expert who has been helping you can more easily see that you have a follow-up question. Thanks for keeping your posts together.