Tales from the Lab #2: How to Clear a Micro Lab (Part One)

To preface this particular tale, the reader needs to understand a few things when it comes to microbiology labs. Foremost, the lab is prone to many unpleasant smells; most bacterial cultures stink. The second important item to note is that any microbiologist that deals with live cultures often enough tends to build a tolerance to those smells. It may be due to the fact that we anticipate certain bad smells when we know what a culture is, or perhaps it’s just due to repeated exposure that it doesn’t bother many of us any longer. Whatever the case may be, most of the other microbiologists that I have worked with treat those unpleasant odors as a part of the job.

Most bacterial cultures produce compounds that produce some sort of smell. For example, Clostridium species produce hydrogen sulfide gas, which has an odor not unlike rotten eggs. At one of my previous jobs, we had such bacteria in samples almost on a daily basis. It was a smell I simply had to get used to. Bacillus species tend to smell like old socks, or stinky cheese. To me, Acinetobacter sometimes smells like rotten melon. All things that don’t smell particularly good.

On a side note, there is one species I know of that has a better smell. Pseudomonas aeruginosa often times has a fruity smell; in my college textbooks it was described as “grape-like”, but I find it’s only similar to the artificial grape flavoring rather than real grapes. To me, it’s more akin to the smell of fruit punch. Just because something smells okay does not mean it’s a “nice” bug; Pseudomonas is responsible for a number of hospital-acquired infections.

Anyway, back to the story…

It began as an ordinary work day for myself and my coworkers. There were five or six of us working that day, and I was at the bench in the back corner of the lab, where I fortunately (or unfortunately) had a great vantage point to watch what unfolded, but where I would be the last one to leave the lab should we all have to get out at the same time. I was assigned to look at cultures kept in cooked meat broth, which were stored in a special incubator in that corner of the lab, otherwise I would have been much closer to the epicenter of the odiferous disaster, but also, much nearer to the door.

I was going about my work when there was a major commotion on the far side of the lab. I looked up to see one of my coworkers gagging, while two others were practically running for the door. I thought it was strange, but I continued to work; my thought was whatever had smelled bad enough to cause them to take their morning break an hour early was far enough away that I wouldn’t be affected. I was wrong.

After another minute, the absolute worst smell I’d ever encountered permeated my work space. I had never before encountered a smell so bad that I had no choice but to leave the lab until it cleared up, and I have not encountered another one since that day. It was terrible, and in the words of the coworker who had encountered the offending culture, it was like, “an old trashcan full of dirty diapers left out in the sun all summer.” I don’t think I could have described it any better.

The lab still reeked when we returned, but at least this time, we were somewhat prepared for it. The offending culture ended up being identified as a Streptococcus group F, for those who wish to know. Even for those of us who have managed to gain a tolerance for unpleasant smells, there are still some that are so awful that they’ll make you want to flee. I hope to never meet another Strep F culture again.