Cultivating microorganisms in the lab has not always been what it is now. Thanks to Angelina Fanny Hesse (1850-1934), microbiologists now have a solid medium to grow microbes in the lab.
Before Hesse stepped onto the scene, bacteriologists were cultivating microorganisms on an assortment of food – potato, coagulated egg whites, and meat. In 1819, an epidemic of “bloody bread” broke out in Padua, Italy. The Venetian pharmacist Bartolomeo Bizio isolated the culprit on polenta and called it Serratia marcescens. Then in 1872, Joseph Schroeter published a paper demonstrating the separation of bacteria of different colors on cooked potatoes. Like Bizio’s experiments, Schroeter was able to transfer the microorganisms to fresh media over and over. (more…)