Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!husc6!rutgers!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!rg20+
From: rg20+@andrew.cmu.edu (Rick Francis Golembiewski)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: Microwave Autoclave
Message-ID: <8YKor8y00WB_85PypV@andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: 30 Apr 89 18:17:44 GMT
References: <2220@uswat.UUCP>
Organization: Class of '92, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Lines: 23
In-Reply-To: <2220@uswat.UUCP>


 >I'm talking about blasting the little peckers in to
 s>pace by high wattage (+1000) and thorough coverage (i.e. 
 gl>assware in motion on 3D gimbel).  Will it work ? How do test
 for> sterilization completeness ? 
 It might work (after all there certainly is enough energy to fry
 anything living on the glass), as for testing that's easy, take your sterilized
 glass and put it in a sterile incubator and let it incubate for a
 while, then check it to see if there is any bacterial/fungal colonies,
 assuming that your incubator is really sterile then there shouldn't
 be if the process worked.  Alternately make something similar to
 autoclave tape, which turns a different color when it is exposed to
 enough microwaves to ensure sterilization.  However the real question
 is: Is there any real need for it?  After all autoclaving using steam
 is effective and can be used on metals, and since most labs have large
 "ovens" already, there is no particular need for a giant microwave...
 (Not to mention that glassware is fairly cheap and most labs have lots of it
 [just in case it gets drpped] so that they can wait for it to be autoclaved).

//     Rick Golembiewski  rg20+@andrew.cmu.edu  \\
\\       #include stddisclaimer.h               //
 \\  "I never respected a man who could spell" //
  \\               -M. Twain                  //