Ucan Culture: Microbial culturing for DIYbio biotechnology

About this course

Starting a bio-lab or bio-business usually requires the ability to grow pure and healthy cultures of a desired organism, whether growing mushrooms, making beer or yogurt, or genetic engineering. Making culture media is a foundational skill, it is often the first task taught to a new member of a lab. But this skill is not confined to professional laboratories, it can be done with widely available equipment and supplies. This skill can be used to grow and engineer organisms, and has much wider applications for isolation and identification of wild microbes, counting microbial loads, or even artistic expression. Join me as we delve into the formulation and preparation of nutrient media.Biological system propagation and bio-production have been the foundation of human civilization but has evolved from agriculture and food preservation to technologies for synthetic biology. Microbes are incredible organisms that can take simple inputs and produce complex bio-molecules. This course will examine common microbes or cultured organisms and their associated growth mediums. There will be demonstrations of the skills with a simple home set-up and information on how to replicate this work. With a mastery of making media and growing microbes, more advanced genetic engineering skills are possible. Join me on an amazing journey to become a biohacker.

Course objectives

• understand the basics of microbial growth and media preparation
• learn how to set up a simple home lab for culturing microbes
• explore advanced applications in genetic engineering and biohacking