"Can an Instant Pot Sterilize a Bacterial Culture?" by John Osborne, Makenna Case et al.
 
Can an Instant Pot Sterilize a Bacterial Culture?

Can an Instant Pot Sterilize a Bacterial Culture?

Date

2-18-2025

Faculty Mentor

Ashley Turner, Education & Professional Studies

Submission Type

Conference Proceeding

Location

5:00-5:10 pm | Houston Cole Library, 11th Floor

Description

Please note: no video is available for this presentation.

This research investigates whether the Instant Pot can effectively sterilize E. coli liquid cultures, providing an innovative alternative to traditional autoclaving. The experiment started with E. coli cultures incubated in LB broth at 37°C using a shaking biological incubator. Following Instant Pot processing, the treated E. coli samples were inoculated into fresh LB broth and streaked onto LB agar plates, which were then incubated using shaking and standing biological incubators and observed for microbial growth over a 30-day period. Results indicated that samples processed by the Instant Pot showed no visible bacterial growth in either liquid or solid media, in stark contrast to the positive controls that demonstrated robust growth. These findings highlight the Instant Pot's potential as a reliable and accessible method for sterilizing bacterial cultures, particularly in educational settings and low-resource laboratories. This experiment was conducted as part of a larger, ongoing project in The Lab., led by Dr. Turner, within the ESE 423/523 Teaching General Science CURE (course-based undergraduate research experience) in the Department of Teacher Education, CEPS.

Keywords

student research, education, biology

Rights

This content is the property of Jacksonville State University and is intended for non-commercial use. Video and images may be copied for personal use, research, teaching or any "fair use" as defined by copyright law. Users are asked to acknowledge Jacksonville State University. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@jsu.edu.

Disciplines

Biology

Can an Instant Pot Sterilize a Bacterial Culture?

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