Today, we went poking and probing at each others’ faces. All in the name of Science, of course. In order to test for Streptococcus pyogenes, we took a throat swab.
Brushing the uvula with a sterile cotton swab, and careful to avoid the tongue (pushing it down with a tongue depressor), Peter took a swab of my throat. Well, ultimately Dr. Pathakamuri took the sample, because I have a stubborn tongue. 
Regardless, we ended up with a throat swab, which we inoculated a blood agar with it.
I was happy to return the favor to Pete by taking a nasal nares swab. I dipped the swab in saline solution first, however, because a dry swab wouldn’t work as well. We then inoculated a mannitol salt plate with the swab in order to test for MRSA.
We finished off this medical experimentation by collecting a urine sample (which I was happy to provide). Using a 50 microliter pipet, we inoculated an EMB plate with it. All three of our samples went into the incubator.
Next, we performed a Kirby-Bauer test. We did this by inoculating a nutrient agar with our unknown bacteria, and adding various antibiotics to it. We tested Penicillin, Tetracycline, Neomycin, Cinnamon Oil, Lemon Oil, and Augmentin. For Penicillin, Tetracycline, and Neomycin, we used sterilized forceps to place samples of these antibiotics onto our nutrient agar. For Cinnamon Oil, Lemon Oil, and Augmentin, we placed three small paper disks onto our nutrient agar, and added 2.0 micrometers of each onto separate papers.
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