Question

Why is it necessary to sterilize the wire and handle of the inoculating loop before and after each transfer?

A) To keep the loop clean
B) To prevent loop corrosion
C) To prevent contamination between samples
D) To increase bacterial growth

Answer 1

It is necessary to sterilize the inoculating loop to prevent contamination between samples, maintain aseptic technique and ensuring the integrity of microbial cultures in experiments.

Step-by-step explanation:

The necessity of sterilizing the wire and handle of the inoculating loop before and after each transfer is to prevent contamination between samples. This practice is essential in maintaining aseptic techniques within the microbiology laboratory to ensure that microbial cultures remain pure and uncontaminated by other microorganisms. The wire loop is typically sterilized by passing it through a flame or using a bactericinerator. This process incinerates any residual microorganisms, thus preventing the transfer of unwanted bacteria from one culture medium to another.

Following these procedures supports accurate bacterial growth data and maintains the integrity of experimental results. This helps maintain the integrity of the experiment and prevents unwanted cross-contamination. One method of sterilizing the loop is by heating it in a flame until it becomes red-hot. The high temperature kills any microorganisms present. After each transfer, the loop should be sterilized again to remove any bacteria that may have been picked up from the previous sample.