Trial Week of Door-Knob Germ Experiment!

So, a few weeks ago, right before the winter break began, I started my door knob experiment. I always wondered which bathroom doorknob was germiest, the men's bathroom or the women's so this is the experiment I decided on conducting. Previous research has supported the idea that women are more likely to wash their hands after using the facilities and in a case-study conducted in Turkey found that women scored higher than men when it comes to proper hand-washing knowledge so this experiment is geared to further study those habits. I expect that overall data will show that less bacteria will grow in the women's doorknobs than on the men's doorknobs.

The first day, Josh showed me the different swabbing methods and we chose the isolation method to streak the swab samples onto the agar plates that I previously prepared. Afterwards, I went to collect the samples. It took some getting used to but now when I do my sampling, it feels some-what automatic.

At first, Josh and I decided to start with day zero, where we disinfect the surface that we take the samples from and the day zero are expected to come back clear. Day one and on-wards should have bacterial growth on the plates. The samples were checked every 48 hours and were initially stored in the incubator and later moved to the refrigerator to allow for bacterial growth to slow down. Bacterial colonies were put into the data sheet in my lab book.

Into the incubator we go! :)

Ready to plate!

This is the sample from the men's outside, posterior doorknob.  

bacteria. just fabulous!

I think that because of the winter flu season, the bacteria that was taken grew in large clusters and in different colors whereas the samples from this week (the second week of school ones) were smaller and more consistent throughout the plates.

This trial week has allowed me to get better at my sampling and plating technique as well. I also asked a lot of questions to make sure that I was doing everything to the best of my ability.

P.S. I shall be posting my blog post for this week as well. You will be able to compare the results from this week with the trial week results from the winter break ones.

Thank you for reading :) Good luck to everyone this semester, whether you're taking classes, teaching or even both! Remember to treat yourself to something nice (i.e. a manicure, facial, massage or a trip to the park)!

Greetings, Khadidja M.