Bacteria Become Art Tools In Annual Agar Art Competition

There are about a trillion species of microbes on Earth, but usually we only pay attention when one of them, E. coli for example, has led to an outbreak of disease. However, besides a few disease-causing strains, you happily coexist with bacteria every day. Microbes are regularly used in food production, form a large part of your own body, and now they’re also an art medium. 

Since 2015, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) has been running an annual contest, allowing scientists to get creative with the agar plates and bacterial strains in their labs. 

Scientists who use bacteria in research grow them either in a broth or on a plate of the gel-like substance agar. They may be studying the microbes directly — for example, to identify the source of an infection — or use bacteria as a tool to produce DNA meant for other research applications. Microbes have become a regular part of scientific research, and such bacterial plates are a common sight in many labs. 

A few years ago, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) decided that it was time to let others get a glimpse of the diversity of microbial life, and launched the Agar Art contest. It was a chance for scientists to get creative in their labs, and show the world not only their skills at creating patterns and pictures with bacteria, but also to give people a unique look at microbes. Rather than being something invisible and threatening, these microbes have become the paints on scientists’ palettes. 

The ASM has just announced the winners of this year’s competition, which feature a wide variety of styles and bacterial strains. People’s choice winner Zita Pöstényi, a microbiologist at SYNLAB Hungary Ltd, used three agar plates and four different bacteria to create a pattern inspired by Hungarian folk art. 

So how does this work? Bacteria are stored in a liquid stock, and can be spread onto an agar plate using a sterile tool. At first, they’re almost invisible. But after a few days in a warm incubator, individual bacteria have grown into little specks and lines, following the exact location where they were spread on the plate. 

Pöstényi used another trick to create her colorful plates. “I used a special media for this drawing,” she says,  “It contains a chromogenic mixture which enables the detection of activities of specific enzymes.” Thanks to this special mixture, the four bacteria species she used all showed up in different colors, which allowed her to create the traditional folk art pattern. 

Usually, these unique colors tells researchers something interesting about the bacteria, but for the ASM Agar Art competition, these colorful features have become the medium. 

After several years of letting scientists paint with bacteria, ASM opened up the contest to allow anyone to try their hand at agar art, in separate “Maker” or “Kids” categories. 

Korey Abram took part through his school, Prairie View A&M University, where he is a Digital Media Arts student. His professors had provided him and other students with the materials and bacterial strains they could use to create their works. 

“I had never once attempted agar art nor had I even heard of it,” says Abram. In the course of the project, he not only picked up the necessary skills to use bacteria as an art medium, but he learned more about microbiology as well. “Although I had prior knowledge, it became more evident that while there are harmful bacteria to the body, there are also bacteria that can be beneficial.”

Indeed, the human body has at least as many microbes as it has human cells, so it’s fitting that Abram chose to create a self portrait with bacteria. His work, drawn with the bacteria Serratia marcescens and Micrococcus luteus, was chosen as the winner in the “Maker” category. 

Agar and microbes do not produce the most durable artworks. Eventually, the plate will dry or outside microbes will make their way in, distorting the art. A picture taken at exactly the right moment is the best way to preserve the work. 

If Abram were to use bacteria in future projects, he would consider documenting the growth of the bacteria to create a timelapse. “Design is all about the process and how you arrived at your final piece.”

Zita Pöstényi is already using microbes as part of her work, but she usually doesn’t make art with them. 

“We use different types of agar plates in our lab and some of them are the chromogenic type. This helps us in diagnostic work to find out easier and faster what kind of bacteria grow on the agar, because you can see them in different colors.”

Most of the time scientists like Pöstényi work with bacteria, it is for research or diagnostic purposes, but after seeing agar art, they may never look at their plates the same way again. 

And the next time you hear about an E. Coli outbreak, make it a lot less threatening by remembering that not only are these bacteria very common and usually harmless - you can even make art with them.