The American Society for Microbiologists recently hosted its first international 'Agar Art' challenge in which microbiologists from around the world used various microbes and germs to create beautiful works of art in Petri dishes. The submissions included famous paintings and classical artworks like Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' as well as original microbe paintings.
The scientists used nutritious agar jelly as a "canvas" for their colorful paintings. While they do add an element of randomness as they grow, they can also do things that paint cannot – some of these Petri dish artworks emit bio fluorescent light under certain conditions, while others, guided by the scientists, grew into perfect tree-branch patterns or jelly-fish tentacles.
For more about the process behind unique art like this, read about the work of Tasha Sturm, a microbiologist who used an agar dish to capture the germs on an eight-year-old boy's hand.
Van Gogh's "Starry Night," Proteus mirabilis, Acinetobacter baumanii, Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumonia
Flowering Sunshine, Shigella, Salmonella
First place: Neurons by Mehmet Berkmen and artist Maria Pernil, Nesterenkonia, Deinociccus, Sphingomonas
The Great Wave of Candida by Cristina Marcos, Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida parapsilosis
The Streptomyces Sky, Streptomyces coelicolor
People's choice: Cell to Cell by Mehmet Berkmen and artist Maria Pernil, Nesterenkonia, Deinociccus, Sphingomonas
Third place: Harvest season by Maria Eugenia Inda, Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Mushrooms, Nesterenkonia, Deinociccus, Sphingomonas
Yeast Go Viral, S. cerevisiae, L-A virus
Cells, Nesterenkonia, Deinociccus, Sphingomonas
Second place: NYC Biome Map by Christine Marizzi, Escherichia coli K12
Jellyfish by Maria Penil, Nesterenkonia, Deinociccus, Sphingomonas, Bacillus
Click here to learn about how Tasha Sturm made this microbe handprint with her 8-year-old son:
