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From: phl@drusd.UUCP (LavettePH)
Newsgroups: net.bio
Subject: HELP!
Message-ID: <1204@drusd.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 23-Jan-85 17:28:39 EST
Article-I.D.: drusd.1204
Posted: Wed Jan 23 17:28:39 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 24-Jan-85 08:04:55 EST
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Denver
Lines: 32


Hey, do any of you pros have an opinion on how an amateur can sterilize his
glassware to a level that is acceptable when he is working in a home-basement
lab?

I have a rather old screw-top pressure cooker that I use when I'm sterilizing
my agar tubes and dishes, but I stay out of the kitchen as much as I can except
when I have to go in and turn the heat off.  I don't want to use alcohol because
a little of it goes a long way in destroying a living culture.  I've tried the
oven at max temp for a half hour with good results, but it seems to take for-
ever.

I guess the question is - Can you sterilize glassware in a microwave oven in,
say fifteen minutes, to a degree that is equal to or better than the rest of
the stuff sterilized in rather primitive conditions?  I've tried it but I have
had no luck in isolating whether the contamination I wind up with comes from
my lab bench, my someday-it-will-explode-and-take-me-with-it autoclave or my
glass tools.  I'm betting on the bench so I take real care there, but I still
want as clean an operation as I can get.  I can flame-sterilize some things,
but pipettes,etc.,are a real problem.

Thanks, for your help.

- Phil Lavette

p.s.  A while back you pros gave me quite a bit of help in finding good
      reference books and suppliers.  I've kept that info and added some
      of my own and any cellar-biologist who wants a summary just has to
      ask.  Please include your USnail address because I still don't fully
      understand the cyberbabble that gets email from me to you and I can
      print out a copy of what I have and send it to you without tying up
      the net.