John Green, the author of Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars, and Turtles All the Way Down, has published his latest book Everything Is Tuberculosis, which he narrates the first chapter in this video. John Green provides a story of how history, injustice, and tuberculosis have created a landscape where a treatable infectious disease still kills millions of people each year. In honor of this book and his popular videos, CrashCourse, which includes a nice lecture on the history of tuberculosis, this issue of Titrations highlights the dyes and stains we offer to identify infectious microorganisms.
Product Spotlight
Acid Fast Bacteria (AFB) Stains
Acid-fast organisms such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis are stained using
The Ziehl Neelsen staining method that uses “heated” carbol-fuchsin solution as a primary stain, followed by a decolorizer solution and methylene blue as a counterstain; or,
The Kinyoun Method, a cold method alternative for staining with brilliant green or methylene blue counterstain options.
Gram Stains differentiate bacterial species based on the characteristics of their cell walls, providing essential insight into the morphology of microorganisms. Whether a microorganism is gram positive or gram negative, the results helps pathologist make informed decisions.
“With the removal of danger lurking in infectious diseases and epidemics, society can face a better future, can prepare for a time when other diseases not now subject to therapy will be brought under control. Let us hope that in contributing the antibiotics, the microbes will have done their part to make the world a better place to live in.”
-Selman A. Waksman, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, “for his discovery of streptomycin, the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis”
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