Can Doggy Drool Really Kill Germs? (page 2)

Experimental Procedure

1. Open one Petri dish and inoculate it with a few grains of the freeze-dried staphylococcus epidermis bacteria placed in different areas of the Petri dish.  Pay close attention to exactly how much of the bacteria you use.  Be careful not to use too much.  Label this Petri dish as a control #1 and set it aside.
2. Open a second Petri dish and inoculate it with a ¼ teaspoon of dog saliva.  Close the dish and label it as control #2.
3. Open a third Petri dish.  Inoculate it with exactly the same amount of staphylococcus epidermis bacteria that you used in step #1.  Follow this by topping the bacteria with a small amount of dog saliva.  Cover the dish and label it as sample A.
4. Pet your cat or dog.  Run your hands through your hair.  Rub your hands on the grass outside.  In short, do something to expose your hands to germs. Carefully open one of the Petri dishes, and hold your hand flat against the agar for a few seconds. Cover the dish and label it Sample B.
5. Repeat step #4.   However, before closing the dish, add dog saliva to the areas you touched.   Close the Petri dish, and label it with a permanent marker as Sample C.
6. Carefully put all the Petri dishes in an area where they will not be disturbed.
7. Inspect your dishes at 12, 24, 36, and 48 hours.  Compare Control #1 to Sample A.  Are there more cultures growing in the dish that was inoculated with dog saliva?  Compare Sample B to Sample C. Are there more cultures growing out in the dish that you touched or the dish that was touched and treated with dog saliva?  Lastly, consider the number of cultures that grew out in Control #2.  Can you draw any conclusions on the cleanliness of dog saliva?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia "Saliva"
2. Wikipedia "Wound Licking"
3. Wikipedia "Lysozome"