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Anti-Septic & Bacteria Lab Shakil Mirza February 27, 2012 Mrs.

Abu Biology

Abstract: This report presents the testing of three different antiseptics and their efficiency to inhibit bacteria. Each person was to dip their same finger throughout the experiment using each of the antiseptics provided and gently leaving a fingerprint within the gel of the petri dish. After 48 hours of the petri dishes undergoing heat in the incubators, they were given back for a close examination of each quadrant and to observe the colonies of bacterium left. The fewer bacteria left would determine how well an anti-septic worked, and would be compared to the other chosen substances to perform its cleaning and the result was that quadrant four had no bacteria left whatsoever. The hand sanitizer is a quick and instant sanitary product which is safe, and compact. With many institutions, such as school, offices, library, community centers, implicating the hand sanitizer it lessens the amount of bacteria to spread as it cant be an alternative to washing hands thoroughly with soap.

Introduction: A prokaryotic single cell organism ranked in the bacteria taxon, is known as bacterium. It can be found in different morphological shapes such as a sphere (coccus), rod-shaped (bacillus), and spiral-shaped (spirrila). Bacterium can be characterized into prokaryotic and eukaryotic, with prokaryotic being categorized into the most primitive bacteria which is the Achaea, and the most modern form of bacteria which is known as eubacteria. Achaea is known to be extremophiles, which are prokaryotes that live under extreme conditions such as heat, saline, and acids. Eubacteria are spherical or rod-shaped single-celled microorganisms that have a rigid cell wall that is made out of peptidoglycan, and may use tails or flagella for motion, and their cells do not possess a nucleus. Bacteria can cause disorders such as food poising, vomiting,

diarrhea and others. An example which causes all these symptoms is E. coli, and could be seen by a micro-scope, as a "rod-shaped" bacteria known as bacilli, categorized into strains. Many bacteria can be conquered with drugs called antibiotics, though our third line of defense the antibody formation. If antibodies cannot be produced, they send signals to the macrophages which are white blood cells, and engulf the pathogens. But in many cases, antibiotics are needed to help a bodys immune system. The gram stain is used to detect the presence of bacteria, yeast, and other cells and gives quick information in a clinical setting about what antibiotics will be most effective in treating a bacterial infection. It is used on prokaryotic cells because it has peptidoglycan in its cell wall which the gram stain can attach to, a main difference eukaryotes dont have. Gram-negative stains would have a pink colour and grampositive stains would have a purple colour. Antibiotics work by either interfering with the multiplying of bacteria, or entering into the cell wall to kill the bacteria. To eliminate bacteria which may infiltrate the topological first line of defense the skin, humans are encouraged to use anti-septic products, which are chemicals that destroy bacteria without harming body cells, to destroy up to 99 % of bacteria. Purpose: To find which substance has the most inhibition to bacteria by using the given substances. Hypothesis: I hypothesize that after washing your hands and then placing the left index finger into the gel in the petri dish would have the highest inhibition to bacteria (in quadrant 2) and the quadrant with the lowest inhibition to bacteria is before washing the hands (in quadrant 1).

Apparatus: Procedure: 1 First the Hypothesis must be written out 2 Then a Petri Dish was chosen 3 Four Quadrants was labeled with a marker on the petri dishs lid 4 The first quadrant must hold the finger/thumb of the person before washing his/her hands by pressing gently into the quadrants gel. 5 Then one must wash hands with soap 6 After, one must use the same finger/thumb as before to gently place ones finger in quadrant 2 7 - Then one must wash hands with soap again 8 After, one must now dip his/her finger into toothpaste and then place the thumb/finger into quadrant 3 9 - Then one must wash hands with soap again 10- Then one must place the same finger/thumb in the hand sanitizer and gently press down on the gel in quadrant 4. Pencil Paper Petri Dish Finger Hand Sanitizer Tooth Paste Tape Marker Incubator Gel

11 When completed, one must seal the petri dish shut, and tape the side around fully

Observations:

Control

Quadrant 1

Quadrant 2

Quadrant 3

Quadrant 4

nothing

According to the above observations, quadrant two looks like that it has the most colonies of bacteria due to cell aggregation. Quadrant four has no colonies of bacteria at all, and this would be safe to say that it has the most inhibition to bacteria. Comparing to the control, quadrant one has a similar number of bacteria, and would determine that the control could have been done before washing ones hands.

Discussion: It is apparent that after reviewing the petri dishes, there was a source of error. Comparing to other petri dishes which had similar dense shapes and taking up the whole quadrant, class peers also heard similar crackling noises in the quadrant with the most colonies. By washing hands with soap, it is the best option in cleaning, it should not doubt had no

bacteria, since there can be no alternative to this. Washing hands with soap is universal and the most safest, because it can even get out the toughest of stains. This leads us to believe, that the gel had been broken, which the teacher said to avoid and now it is clear the result of it. Another source of error that could have occurred was the transition of washing hands and to place the finger on the petri dish and in that short amount of time some bacteria could have contracted as it could be seen in quadrant three. We can overcome this error, by making sure that the as soon as we finish washing our hands, we turn off the tap using a clean paper towel, and making sure there is no drops of water left on the hands. Also, the class should have been able to learn how to gently press down (as practice), rather than being told verbally, so that way students would not be able to break the gel while experimenting. In theory no bacteria should have been contracted after washing hands with soap, or toothpaste, and with sanitizer since they are all forms of notable antiseptics used in everyday life.

Conclusion: In conclusion the hypothesis was incorrect since it stated that quadrant two would have the most inhibition to bacteria out of all other quadrants. But due to the errors mentioned earlier, the area where no colonies formed is quadrant four. After that, quadrant three had only a finger full (pun intended) of coccus and quadrant one following behind, and lastly quadrant two. In the end, I learned that bacteria can be found everywhere and the best anti-septic to wash away the bacterium is hand sanitizer analyzed in the observations above.

Bibliography
Dunlop, J. (2010). Classifying Life's Diversity. McGraw-Hill Ryerson Biology 11 (pp. 10-31). Toronto, Ont.: McGraw-Hill Ryerson. Nordqvist, C. (2009, April 20). What are antibiotics? how do antibiotics work? . Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/10278.php

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