Final answer:
A hospital uses transport media to maintain stability of microbes in clinical specimens during transit to a laboratory, ensuring accurate analysis upon their arrival.
Step-by-step explanation:
A hospital might choose to use transport media to carry clinical specimens because transport media are designed to keep microbes stable until they can be inoculated into appropriate growth media. This is important for ensuring that the characteristics of the microorganisms remain unchanged during transport so they can be accurately identified and studied in the laboratory.
Transport media differ from other types of culture media as they do not support microbial growth. Instead, they maintain the viability of the organisms by preserving them in a state suitable for later analysis. Culture media such as broth or agar are used to cultivate microorganisms in the lab, providing all necessary nutrients for growth like carbon sources, nitrogen, minerals, and sometimes even hormones or vitamins for more fastidious microorganisms.
Selective and differential media are specially formulated to aid in the identification and growth of specific types of microorganisms, often containing inhibitors to suppress competing flora and indicators to differentiate between desired microbes.