Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am trying to get an organism called P.acnes. It is a biosaftey level 1. I tried ordering from the ATCC Global Biorescource center, like the procedure from science buddies tells you to do, but they won't ship to schools. I also tried to order this Fisher Scientific, and they won't ship it either. Carolina Biological does not carry this bacteria. Can you please tell me where my middle school can get this organism.

Hi Science2,
Welcome to the Ask an Expert forums! I believe you are working on this project:
http://sciencebuddies.com/science-fair- ... p019.shtml
Difficulty as written is rated as 7-8, which is intended for an advanced middle-school or high-school project.
On the project page, you'll see links to three additional pages related to safety requirements when working with microbes. If you haven't had a chance to read and understand these pages, you will need to do so before proceeding.
http://sciencebuddies.com/science-fair- ... fety.shtml
http://sciencebuddies.com/science-fair- ... ains.shtml
http://sciencebuddies.com/science-fair- ... ents.shtml
There is also a caution note at the bottom of the project description page

Note: The bacteria used in this science fair project, P. acnes, is a biosafety level 1 bacteria and thus considered to be very safe for healthy humans to handle. However, many science fairs require students who use bacteria in their projects to fill out special risk-assessment forms. Consult with your teacher, or an official from your local science fair. You may also find our information for Projects Involving Potentially Hazardous Biological Agents useful in determining what paperwork you might need to fill out.

If you are able to satisfy all these safety & paperwork requirements, you can do this experiment. If not, then you should look for another project.

As far as ordering, at the bottom of the project description, I believe you've seen this note:

P. acnes strain; this item can be ordered from ATCC: The Global Bioresource Center. Strains cannot be ordered by the general public. You'll need your school teacher to order it, or a sponsor from a research laboratory or biotech company. There are a variety of P. acnes strains available from ATCC. We recommend you order P. acnes strain NCTC 737. The ATCC # for the strain is 6919. Note: setting up an account with ATCC and getting your strain can take up to 2 weeks, so plan accordingly.

I contacted ATCC this morning and spoke with a sales rep to confirm that they do ship to primary schools as long as an account has been established in accordance with their distribution policy ( http://www.atcc.org/DistributionPolicy/ ... fault.aspx ) which specifies that "Potential customers must be able to demonstrate that their expertise and their institution's facilities are appropriate for handling biological materials." If your teacher has facilities and expertise to support your work with P. acnes, he/she is allowed to establish an account and make the order. If there is some other complication that I've missed, please let us know so that we can fix that project page.

Good luck!

Chris