Warning: this blog contains some graphic material relevant to a lab performed in Food Microbiology. I would not recommend reading and eating at the same time. Especially if you are eating raw chicken…
To the disappointment of my mother, a biology teacher, I have always detested biology. The study of evolution and cell reproduction was never my forte. I much preferred the exactness and precision offered to me with chemistry and physics. Biology, and especially microbiology, was never interesting and often caused a great deal of discomfort to me. The idea that my body is packed to the brim with microorganisms that I did NOT give permission to colonize my gut made my skin crawl. That is, until I had my first college-level microbiology class.
Last year, most of my Food Science peers and I took MICRO 202 together, a pre-requisite to FDSC 409 (Food Microbiology). After the very first lab, I knew I was hooked. I called my mom and told her, “I have a confession…I have been wrong all these years. I think I might love biology.” This year, I finally got full immersed into my major-related courses, meaning I would be taking that Food Microbiology lab.
To set the scene that leads up to the creation of the quote of the week, let me describe the nature of the lab in question. It’s Halloween (not on purpose for this lab oddly enough). We’re studying Campylobacter, the cause of millions of cases of food poisoning every year. The room smells like something died (and to be frank, lots of microorganisms have died in it). On our lab benches, a horrifying site lies in wait: horse blood and bags of raw chicken.
After our Pre-Lab safety talk and workflow discussion, it’s time to get our hands (sterilely) dirty and start working with the blood and guts and gore. Our job is to properly homogenize our chicken samples in the growth media (the blood) to create an inoculated media for isolation streaking. What does this involve, you might ask? Industrial blenders and the creation of a vile “barnyard slushie”. My lab partners and I can laugh about it now, but I simply cannot understate how disgusting our creation was. From the smell to the texture to the sheer idea that we have the whole barn in one semi-liquid state, this was for sure a lab that was going to stick in my mind forever.
What was the purpose of me telling you about this revolting series of events? So I could fully explain all the reasons I do actually love microbiology! As mentioned in previous blogs, I was and still am a pretty severe germophobe. I never expected to get through a lab without having a total mental breakdown and going home to triple-shower. Seeing how far I’ve come throughout my time here at Penn State is actually quite a point of pride for me. I am letting myself learn despite the mental barriers that OCD and germaphobia place on me. I am diving head-first to the barnyard slushies of the course and learning as much as I can to not only achieve high grades, but to prepare me for my future in the Food Science Industry. I can say with certainty now that microbiology, and even biology in general, may be one of my favorite subjects and I can’t wait to learn more throughout the rest of the semester.
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