Discover Microbiology Day
Dates: | 9 December 2010 |
Times: | 09:00 - 15:30 |
What is it: | Outreach and enrichment activities |
Who is it for: | Post 16 |
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We see a lot of adverts about good bacteria in foods but what about the bad bacteria in what we eat?
Microbiology examines pathogenic microbes (bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites) and how they cause disease, become resistant to antibiotics or stimulate our immune system to fight off infection. Microbiologists also consider how microbes can potentially be beneficial to our health, be useful to us in food production and play a role in the carbon and nitrogen cycles on earth.
On the Discover Microbiology Day you will find out more about the Microbiology course at Manchester, the types of career available to you as a Microbiology graduate and the cutting-edge research going on right now in our labs.
You will get the chance to do some hands-on microbiology, which will include:
• Detecting microbial spoilage of milk. Does pasteurised milk last longer than UHT milk before going sour? You will use a redox indicator to detect microbial growth in pasteurised and UHT milk.
• How do we identify and visualise bacteria? You will have the opportunity to Gram stain bacterial cells, visualise them under the microscope and explore the use of selective media to identify bacterial pathogens. You will use modern microbiological techniques to identify contaminated food - which sandwich is fit to eat?
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