Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

So, I’m working on artificial selecting for antibiotic resistance, and one of my responsibilities is to write my own lab protocol (it’s a smaller school so I’m the only one on it). Part of that is disposing of the bacteria after, and I really don’t want to become a biohazard. So… how should I kill it? We don’t have an autoclave or anything (again, small school).

Dear Eleanor,

Thanks for the question, glad to see you're considering safety precautions before you start experiments. Do you have access to a local hospital or healthcare facility? You may be able to dispose as a biohazard at either of those locations. To transport, make sure it is in a sealed container clearly labeled and bagged multiple times.

Best of luck!
Rebekah

Yeah, right now I’m planning on double bagging inside of a Clorox container that I’ve marked as biohazard. There’s an urgent care down the street, but I’d still rather kill it first. I’m thinking straight ethanol or bleach.

Hi Eleanor,

One thought to add to the excellent suggestions by the expert ... I thinking the science fair judges will be impressed with a description of how you handle the bio-safety for your project! Best of luck at the fair!
Madeline

Hi Eleanor,

I would like to add to the great advice given by the other experts. I think your idea of using ethanol or bleach will be sufficient for killing the bacteria before adding it to a biohazard container/bag. If you want to use ethanol, a 70% ethanol solution would be sufficient. If you want to use bleach, a 5% diluted bleach solution would be sufficient. Bleach is usually recommended if you are working with spore-forming bacteria; otherwise, you should stick to ethanol. Be sure to never mix bleach and ethanol!

Hope this helps! Good luck with your project!

--Brandi