PRESERVATION OF BACTERIA

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27563, 21 January 1955, Page 3

PRESERVATION OF BACTERIA

Wellington Hospital Apparatus

INDEFINITE STORAGE OF ORGANISMS

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, January 20. A complex apparatus which has just been completed at the Wellington Hospital can preserve bacteria indefinitely. - The bacteria, after treatment in the apparatus, a freeze drier, can be preserved for years in a state of sus-

pended life and then regenerated at will. The apparatus can be used to preserve rare blood groups and other living organisms which the hospital wants to keep. The name freeze drier gives the clue to how the apparatus works. Bacteria and other living cells are frozen and dried. The laboratory assistants bring them back to life by restoring their moisture. The apparatus took a year to build, with frequent delays while parts were made or imported. It cost the hospital £lOOO. Mr J. Pierard, principal bacteriologist at the hospital, said today it was impossible z to estimate how much expense the hospital had been saved by building the apparatus. It is the sort of machinery, which just cannot be bought,” he said. “At least two other institutions in the Dominion have apparatus that can half do the job, but the freeze drier at the Wellington Hospital is unique in New Zealand.”