MILLIONS OF GERMS

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 12 January 1929, Page 9

MILLIONS OF GERMS

T> REEDING bacteria is the work of a • little laboratory in London, where countless millions of germs are bom overnight. These “cultures’’ are in great demand among scientists and oheesemakers. The practice of breeding deadly germs for distribution, says Mr. Gordon Daws in Answers, all over the world at a shilling a test-tube sounds as if it might land the promoters eventually in the Old Dailey. The germ colony at the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, however, which is maintained under the auspices of tho Medical Research .Council, is working hard for the benefit of humanity. In a little laboratory at the top of the building the curator, Dr. St. John Brooks, and his assistant, Miss Rhodes, superintend the breeding and maintenance of countless millions of these diminutive creatures, which measure about it wen tv-five thousandths of an inch across", and naturally can only be viewed through a microscope. The National Collection of Type Cultures, as it is called, was formed as a kind of exchange, where research workers could send”newly-discovered types or types they wish maintained, and from thenco some 2000 different strains could be despatched for experimental purposes on payment of a small fee. J?ot mstance, someone might want to inoculate an animal with tuberculosis for comparison with a germ which he possessed. Another might wish to make tuberculin or vaccine from the germs. More than half this vast colony in a small room is composed of human disease germs, but there are animal and plant germs, and a comparatively small percentage of harmless bacteria used ■ for industrial purposes. The laboratory is a mass of testtubes filled with* agar, a substance that looks like gelatine, in which the bacteria flourish. They are eorked up with different coloured wool, and are all labelled and indexed. What would bappen if the cotton-will were removed and the genus free to infest the Mb° r * atory? The answer is—nothing. They ere all stuck on the surface of the agar. It is onlv when experimenting with the little fellows in broth which gets splashed about that there is any danger. , According to Dr. Brooks, the muen-talked-of use of germs in war is a rather over-rated weapon, though it is practical. The difficulty would be fto keep the germs virulent, as they become more nr less harmless after being kept in agar for long. Their virulence has to be restored by inoculating mice. The mice die, and the germs are regained from their blood. There is little difficulty about breedin" ."crms. .One germ will produce millions 0 of its kind in a single night. They simply fall in two, and increase m geometrical progression—from two to four, four to sixteen, sixteen 'to- 256, and so

LONDON BREEDING COLONY

on. They are the most convenient of pe'ts, for they do not even require feeding. The agar itself is sufficient nourishment for them till they, finish growing. Then they apparently lie still and sleep. Mosft of them must be bred at blood heat, but they afterwards exist at ordinary room temperature. The bacteria which are sent to the colony for keeping and breeding arrive in an isolated condition, and arc obtained originally in various ways. Eor instance, a diptheria germ would be obtained by passing a small swab down an infected throat. Then a tube of solidified blood serum would b e inoculated overnight. The growth from this would be smeared on a slide and stained. The bacteria could then be distinguished and examined through a microscope. The collection started with a number of originally-discovered bacilli, and the curator still. prefers strains which have been worked out by experts. There are different types of bacilli for certain diseases. Dor instance, this collection boasts thirty* separate strains of typhoid germs’ Not the least interesting are those used for industrial purposes, and quite a brisk trade is- done in despatching bacilli to various firms for the manufacture of food and other products. . . . . 'How can a baccilus assist m tne making of food? it may be asked. They cause a disintegrating process, and, in a sense, break down the material to be used in the manufacture of the article. One consumes millions of bacteria every time he eats certain cheeses. They are quite harmless, even nourishing.' And there are different strains for each type of cheese. There are the Gamemberti and the Roqueforti Fungi, for instance. It is no use flying to Stilton or Gorgonzolo, for they are both full of bacteria, too. Germs are specially beneficial in lactic ci.(l cIICGSC'S. The pure culture of yeast in the making of beer and wine is most important, and whereas these micro-organisms were formerlv used without any real knowledge, hundreds of firms now employ their own bacteriologists, who, through the experiments which have been made in this science recently, can guage the exact results to be derived from the use of bacteria. Manufacturing power alcohol, such as ethyl, by means of bacteria in place of chemical foods, is more or less in its infancy, but promises well. T.hermophylie bacteria are used for this purpose;. that is, germs which grow at high temperature. The cellulose used in the process is inoculated with the bacteria, which, as in the case of food products, i have a destructive effect on the tissues jof the material. I The germ-breeder is ope of those silent workers who seldom come into the limelight. But the importance of his work cannot be over-estimated.