The American Society for Microbiology’s first Agar Art contest challenged scientists to create a unique work of art. The catch, they had to trade in the typical paint and canvas medium for organism(s) grown in a petri dish. Over 85 works were submitted and critiqued on their creativity, design, and presentation. Mahmet Berkmen of New England Biolabs submitted a work by artist, Maria Penil called “Neurons.” Penil used Nesterenkonia, orange Deinococcus and Sphigomonas to create the image below.
However, the submission that I feel truly merged science and art was created by microbiologist, Melanie Sullivan. In her work, she recreated Vincent van Gogh’s iconic painting “Starry Night.” Her microscopic masterpiece consists of five petri dishes containing four different bacteria. The first bacteria, Proteus mirabilis, which is the color brown, a common cause of urinary track infections. The second, Acinetobacter baumanli, a white colored bacteria that can cause infections in people with weakened immune systems and often resistant to many antibiotics. A blue-green colored bacteria, Enterococcus faecalis, which colonizes the GI track and is a common cause of lower urinary tract infections which is also resistant to many antibiotics. And finally the dark blue colored bacteria, Klebsiella pneumonia, which is found in the normal flora (population of microorganisms) of the mouth, skin and intestines, and causes different type of healthcare-associated infections such as, pneumonia, bloodstream infections, wound or surgical site infections and meningitis.
Click here to view the other finalists.