Let it Glow – Let it Glow – It Can’t Hold it Back Anymore!

Let it Glow – Let it Glow – It Can’t Hold it Back Anymore!

At first, the room is pitch black. My eyes adjust to the darkness and I see two eerie blue-green glowing columns of plastic petri dishes stacked on a table. “Ready? Hold still for 15 seconds”. Click…..click. “Lights”. So began the first #LuxArt portraiture session at the American Society for Microbiology Conference for Undergraduate Educators (ASMCUE) with Dr. Mark O. Martin, University of Puget Sound. Glowing bacteria? Photography by bacterial light? The eerie glow is from a highly bioluminescent, non-pathogenic strain of bacteria Photobacterium leiognathi KNH6 . First collected from K āne ʻohe Bay, O’ahu Hawaii by Dr. Ned Ruby, University of Hawaii and Dr. Eric Stabb, University of Georgia, this nonpathogenic bacterium is unusually bright, produce enough light that you can read by it. Bacterial candlelight, as it were. Outshining its cousins Vibrio sp., Photorhabdus luminescens, and Pseudomonas, scientists are unraveling P. leiognathi’s glowing super power.   Painting with glowing bacteria.  What better way to get students anyone excited about microorganisms? Dr. Mark O. Martin, a self-proclaimed “Microbial Supremacist” uses glowing bacteria to entice students to explore the mysteries of microbiology. Now fellow microbiology educators at ASMCUE created #LuxArt and had #LuxSelfies made. “Doc” Martin was first captivated by bioluminescence as a young

Culture as Medium: Breaking Down Walls Between Art and Science

Culture as Medium: Breaking Down Walls Between Art and Science

  Culture: One Word – Many Meanings This spring – Baltimore will host all meanings of the word culture under one grand exhibition – Culture as Medium. Culture. To some culture is art, music, the symphony, opera, classical literature. Culture is societal. It is something that emerges from our collective. However, culture can also be much smaller, individualized, and active. Conducted by medical professionals and scientists clad in crisp, white lab coats. A culture of bacteria, viruses, fungi, or other microscopic cells can be actively maintained – cultured – in the laboratory under certain conditions.