A growing body of research is beginning to elucidate the diverse impacts the gut microbiota plays in human health and development, from nutrition, to disease, and even cognition. Recently, with the success of fecal matter transplants (FMTs) to treat infectious disease, microbes are emerging as a unique therapeutic. Model systems to both prototype and study complex polymicrobial systems are a necessity for producing robust microbial communities that can be engineered at both the genetic level (subcellular) and population level (multicellular).
3D print a culture tube & culture a bacterial strain comparing its growth rate over time
3D print a 14 mL culture tube in at least one material. Culture a bacterial strain of your choice in this tube and compare the growth rate (optical density) over time versus a polystyrene control tube. Ideally use a strain featuring antibiotic resistance and culture in the presence of an antibiotic.We 3D printed the design in 4 different materials:
The three first were printed with an Objet Eden260VS from Stratasys which has a large pool of possible materials that we can print. The last one was printed with a MakerBot Replicator 2.
Planned protocol and colony preparation:
Pipetting growth media, antibiotic and bacteria into each tube and incubation:
At regular intervals, we performed optical density measurements using a spectrophotometer.
The resulting growth curves for the different materials:
Extra credit: Culture multiple combinations of tube materials and strains, comparing growth rates for each against polystyrene.