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Environmental control device for long-term imaging of microbial communities

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Project Overview

This project aims to control water levels on agar pads used in monitoring interactions of microbial communities. Microbial communities regulate many natural biological processes, but can also cause destruction in the cases of drug-resistant bacteria and invasion of systems. These communities are studied on a small scale to detect growth patterns based on their interactions. Using agar pads for long term monitoring, result in the evaporation of water and reduced nutrient diffusion to the microorganisms. This changes the environment of the microorganisms and causes a decline in the growth rate. The client is asking for a device that continuously supplies water to the agar pad, to keep a consistent environment for long-term imaging. It was also requested that the device has multiple different compartments to hold and inject different inducers, so additional testing can be done using this delivery system. The current prototype uses a peristaltic pump, a 3D printed water dispersal unit and temporal control of water injection into the agar pad, which contains quadrants allowing for up to four different inducers to be injected into the agar.

Team Picture

Team members from left to right: Molly De Mars, Haley Yagodinski, Shannon Horel, Megan Smith
Team members from left to right: Molly De Mars, Haley Yagodinski, Shannon Horel, Megan Smith

Contact Information

Team Members

  • Shannon Horel - Team Leader
  • Molly De Mars - Communicator
  • Haley Yagodinski - BSAC
  • Megan Smith - BWIG & BPAG

Advisor and Client

  • Prof. Amit Nimunkar - Advisor
  • Prof. Megan McClean - Client

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