This article was taken from the March 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Become a biotechnologist in your spare time and start your new hobby by growing glowing blue bacteria, an experiment that takes about a week to complete. "This makes a great project for beginners because it's straightforward, cheap and easy to exclude the bad guys," says Cathal Garvey, a biohacker from Ireland.
Prepare your specimen
The bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio phosphoreum lives in many marine species, but squid produce the best experimental results.
Buy a fresh, unwashed, never-frozen squid. Prepare a bath of natural seawater, or create your own by combining 35g of salt per litre of tap water. Half submerge the squid. Leave it in a dark room no warmer than 18C, or in a refrigerator set no cooler than 4C.
Prepare your medium
Create an agar solution by mixing around 7.5g of agar (it costs about £7 per 100g online) and 2.5g of glycerol or soy protein powder (around £10 for a kilo) per 500ml of salt water. Let it digest for a few minutes, then boil the solution and filter it until it is clear. Then, sterilise it in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes. Pour the liquid into sterile Petri dishes (£5 for ten) and let it set in the fridge.
Harvest the bacteria
Check the squid daily, until you see blinks of blue light on its skin; this will take two to six days, depending on the temperature.
Transfer the bacteria from the squid to the Petri dish using a sterile toothpick or thin wire bent into a loop. Run the bacteria-covered toothpick across the agar and then use another to spread the bacteria as thinly as possible. Put the Petri dish into the fridge, set to 4C.
Select your species
Keep checking the Petri dish until glowing patches appear. Select for the glowing bacteria using the same toothpick method and a new Petri dish. If your culture is pure, the bioluminescent bacteria should appear by the next day, but it can take several days if there are several species present. The bacteria's brightest glow should last for one full day after they establish dominance in their agar environment.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
