Grow A Bacterial Zoo In A Bottle

The American Museum of Natural History in New York City is reviving this microbial experiment by displaying a 6-foot-tall Winogradsky column through August. It’s part of an exhibit called The Secret World Inside You, which explores bacteria found in our bodies. Just as pond bacteria colonize distinct layers in the column, bacteria in our guts colonize distinct parts of our stomach and intestines to help us digest food. “The human digestive tract is one huge Winogradsky column,” says Rob DeSalle, an evolutionary biologist who helped curate the exhibit. Can’t make it to New York to see the exhibit? No problem—just make your own Winogradsky column at home. With a few cups of mud and some other simple materials, you can grow a lush microbial garden. Over time, your column will form layers of different colors, which correspond to different colonies of bacteria.

Tools + Materials

BucketsShovelLarge mixing bowlMixing spoon1⁄4-page of shredded newspaper1 egg yolkScissors1 two-liter soda bottle with top cut offPlastic wrapRubber bands

Instructions

This article was originally published in the March/April 2016 issue of Popular Science, under the title “Grow a Thriving Bacterial Zoo.”