My Favorite Bacteria

[Green Xenon]

Hi:

 

My favorite bacteria are completely non-pathogenic, non-toxic, and non-allergenic. In terms of respiration, they are facultative-anaerobes [can use oxygen but don't need it], obligate anaerobes [can only survive in total or near-total absence of oxygen], or aerotolerant-anaerobes [can survive in oxygen but don't use it for respiration].

 

No obligate aerobes [need oxygen to survive and can withstand high levels of oxygen] or microaerophiles [need oxygen to survive but in small amounts and will die if exposed to the high oxygen levels tolerable by obligate aerobes and aerotolerant anaerobes].

 

No gram-negatives either. They can be gram-positive or gram-neutral but not gram negative.

 

I want my house to be mostly clean but filled with my favorite bacteria. The amount of these bacteria should be enough to perceptibly affect the transparency of the air in my house. Aside from the bacteria, I would like my house to be free of dirt.

 

I want to drink water that is perfectly clean but still contains my favorite bacteria. So many bacteria that the otherwise-clean water looks cloudy.

 

I want to culture my food with my favorite bacteria prior to eating it.

 

I love these bacteria so much that I never use any soap or detergent on my clothes. I wash my clothes with just water.

 

I try whatever possible to help bacteria thrive in my house.

 

I don’t use any chemical cleaners in any part of my house. Just pure water. On the dry areas I vacuum.

 

When I shower, I don’t use any soap or shampoo, just clean water. I don’t use any lotion either because it might kill the bacteria on me. When my lips are dry, I use a bacteria-friendly Vaseline.

 

I bathe until I am totally clean but I don’t use any soap, shampoo, lotion, anti-perspirant, perfume or deodorant.

 

Also, I never take anti-biotics even when the doctor says so. Bacteria are good for us.

 

The only product with anti-microbial properties that I use is Colgate-Total-Clean-Mint [CTCM] toothpaste. I use it on the back of my tongue every morning to get rid of bad breath. The source of bad breath is that junk that develops on the rear of the tongue everynight. Brushing the tongue alone will not eliminate the stench. A strong deodorizing toothpaste like CTCM is a must.

 

They should change the description from “tooth”paste to “tongue”paste. Every morning I place a big blob of that CTCM paste on my tongue and brush with that sonicare all the way to the back of my tongue. Voila! No more bad breath. I do this every morning.

 

Other than the CTCM on my tongue, I don’t use any substance with anti-bacterial properties.

 

I use CTCM only to deodorize my tongue. I don’t use it for anything else. I wish CTCM didn’t harm the good bacteria in my mouth.

 

Here is the problem: Just how do I increase and keep my favorite bacteria around me while eliminating the germs I don’t want [i.e. fungi and anything other than my favorite bacteria]???????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

Lord please help me with this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Thanks,

 

Green Xenon

[Mr Skeptic]

Here's a thought: too much of a good thing can be very bad for you. Even water is poisonous if you drink too much of it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication. Even friendly bacteria will produce harmful byproduct, which generally isn't a problem because there is not much of it. But if you let too many bacteria grow on your food, and then try to eat it, you could end up poisoning yourself.

 

Here's how you can culture yourself some obligate anaerobes. Take some vegetable matter, add a little dirt, put it in a jar, and fill with water. Seal the jar so no air gets in, and let sit for a week or maybe a month. Then open the jar and take a good whiff.

[Green Xenon]

Here's a thought: too much of a good thing can be very bad for you. Even water is poisonous if you drink too much of it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication. Even friendly bacteria will produce harmful byproduct, which generally isn't a problem because there is not much of it. But if you let too many bacteria grow on your food, and then try to eat it, you could end up poisoning yourself.

 

Here's how you can culture yourself some obligate anaerobes. Take some vegetable matter, add a little dirt, put it in a jar, and fill with water. Seal the jar so no air gets in, and let sit for a week or maybe a month. Then open the jar and take a good whiff.

 

That's true. Too much good is bad. Moderation is key. That's why I hate it when the media brainwashes individuals into thinking that all germs are bad.

 

But the chances of me getting too much of "my favorite bacteria" are low enough not to be of concern. Right?

 

As for the obligate anaerobe experiment it would be fun to try it with raw, annatto-free, preservative-free, carrageen-free, carrageenan-free, polysorbate-free, purely-natural, completely-organic milk of healthy happy Jersey cows [who graze solely on natural pasture].

[Sisyphus]

I think this bacteria might be affecting you more than you realize...

[Mr Skeptic]

That's true. Too much good is bad. Moderation is key. That's why I hate it when the media brainwashes individuals into thinking that all germs are bad.

 

But the chances of me getting too much of "my favorite bacteria" are low enough not to be of concern. Right?

 

Usually yes, but if you do as you suggested growing it in your food, consider this: some bacteria have a doubling time of 12 minutes in good conditions. After 8 hours, that is 40 doublings. So if you started with 1 bacteria, after that time you would have 2⁴⁰ = 1 trillion. Of course, if you purposely inoculate your food with bacteria, you will start with thousands or millions of bacteria, and after that many doublings you will essentially be eating pure bacteria + bacterial waste products. The bacteria will stop reproducing when they either run out of food or are poisoned by their own waste products.

 

This is not necessarily bad if your bacteria are yeast (produce either alcohol or vinegar as waste from sugar) or certain lactobacilli (produce yogurt or cheese from milk). But for most bacteria, their waste will be toxic to you.

 

As for the obligate anaerobe experiment it would be fun to try it with raw, annatto-free, preservative-free, carrageen-free, carrageenan-free, polysorbate-free, purely-natural, completely-organic milk of healthy happy Jersey cows [who graze solely on natural pasture].

 

Sure, but be sure to sniff it before consider whether you want to drink it. In fact, I'm going to go ahead and strongly advise you not to drink it if you used dirt as the source of bacteria.

 

However, you can make your own yogurt. Mix some unpasteurized yogurt with your milk and leave in a warm place, and you should end up with more yogurt.

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/giftinajar/homemade-yogurt.shtml

[Green Xenon]

This is not necessarily bad if your bacteria are yeast (produce either alcohol or vinegar as waste)

 

Yeasts are fungi, not bacteria.

[Sisyphus]

Would it be a stupid question to ask why you love this bacteria so much?

[Green Xenon]

Sure, but be sure to sniff it before consider whether you want to drink it. In fact, I'm going to go ahead and strongly advise you not to drink it if you used dirt as the source of bacteria.

 

What if the source of bacteria is the fresh raw cow's milk itself?

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Merged post follows:

Consecutive posts merged

Would it be a stupid question to ask why you love this bacteria so much?

 

Not at all.

 

However, it's a question even I don't have an answer to. I don't know why.

Edited May 15, 2009 by Green Xenon
Consecutive posts merged.

[Mr Skeptic]

What if the source of bacteria is the fresh raw cow's milk itself?

 

If you're lucky, sour milk. If you're unlucky, sometimes raw milk has pathogenic bacteria...

 

Just read the instructions I gave you for making yogurt. That contains healthy bacteria, and is very easy to do and safe.

[Green Xenon]

Just read the instructions I gave you for making yogurt. That contains healthy bacteria, and is very easy to do and safe.

 

Thanx

[iNow]

Just read the instructions I gave you for making yogurt.

Or, watch this episode of Good Eats.

 

 

9PqQtdtcJtE

 

 

JQqyBF4Z8WM

[Green Xenon]

or, watch this episode of good eats.

 

 

9pqqtdtcjte

 

 

jqqybf4z8wm

 

lol

 

Alton Brown, one of the comedian cooks. Just like Emeril Lagasse.

[GDG]

You should pick up a copy of "Good Germs, Bad Germs: Health and Survival in a Bacterial World" by Jessica Snyder Sachs. It has an extensive discussion of how your natural bacteria protects you against pathogenic strains, probiotics, and other bacteria-philic facts. Extensive endnotes and references.

[Mr Skeptic]

Thanx

 

You're welcome. You can also consider making cheese, which is also made with bacteria and/or molds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese

Hundreds of types of cheese are produced. Their different styles, textures and flavors depend on the origin of the milk (including the animal's diet), whether it has been pasteurized, butterfat content, the species of bacteria and mold, and the processing including the length of aging. Herbs, spices, or wood smoke may be used as flavoring agents. The yellow to red color of many cheeses is a result of adding annatto. Cheeses are eaten both on their own and cooked in various dishes; most cheeses melt when heated.

[CharonY]

Technically it will be almost impossible to surround oneself with a single species. Generally those numerically most abundant ones tend to excel in the utilization of a given resources to overcome growth limiting factors more efficiently than the rest. A given household, however has so many different factors (temp, humidity, availability of sunlight, nutrient sources, etc.) that it is unlikely that a single bacterium will be competititive in all aspects.

[Green Xenon]

Technically it will be almost impossible to surround oneself with a single species. Generally those numerically most abundant ones tend to excel in the utilization of a given resources to overcome growth limiting factors more efficiently than the rest. A given household, however has so many different factors (temp, humidity, availability of sunlight, nutrient sources, etc.) that it is unlikely that a single bacterium will be competititive in all aspects.

 

Couldn't a filter with microscopic parts be added to the vents to selectively allow gram-positive and gram-neutral bacteria in while filtering out the gram-negative bacteria based on the shapes of the bacterial cells?

 

Hopefully something like this could be used to keep out those nasty fungi [such as athletes foot] and allergens [such as dust and pollen] while welcoming in the good bugs.

---

Merged post follows:

Consecutive posts merged

You're welcome. You can also consider making cheese, which is also made with bacteria and/or molds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese

Hundreds of types of cheese are produced. Their different styles, textures and flavors depend on the origin of the milk (including the animal's diet), whether it has been pasteurized, butterfat content, the species of bacteria and mold, and the processing including the length of aging. Herbs, spices, or wood smoke may be used as flavoring agents. The yellow to red color of many cheeses is a result of adding annatto. Cheeses are eaten both on their own and cooked in various dishes; most cheeses melt when heated.

 

I wonder if butter could be made using bacteria.

 

I've heard that bacteria can easily digest and metabolize carbohydrates and proteins but have a hard time processing lipids [such as cholesterol]. If this is true, then can bacteria be used to breakdown all the carbs and proteins in the milk [which pretty much constitute most of the non-fat milk solids] to make the butter? Once the proteins and carbs are metabolized by the bacteria, they will no longer be in the hard solid form the originally were in. For example, casein [the chief milk protein] is solid, however, once bacteria break it down, they will convert it to amines, ammonia, propionic acids and other volatile compounds -- some maybe solid but very soft and not take up as much space as the original casein.

[Mr Skeptic]

Or, you could just look up how to make butter: how to make butter

[Green Xenon]

Or, you could just look up how to make butter: how to make butter

 

Usually butter is made by churning milk. However, I was just curious as to whether -- at least hypothetically -- butter could be made by bacteria acting on the nonfat parts of milk.

[Willowx]

 

 

I want my house to be mostly clean but filled with my favorite bacteria. The amount of these bacteria should be enough to perceptibly affect the transparency of the air in my house.

 

 

What exactly will be supporting this bacteria? It's going to need nutrients to survive and well in my experience bacteria don't float in the air in that large a group.

[Green Xenon]

What exactly will be supporting this bacteria? It's going to need nutrients to survive and well in my experience bacteria don't float in the air in that large a group.

 

 

I'm describing what I wish to happen. Doesn't necessarily mean it's possible. I'm into sci-fi as well as microbiology.

 

If these bacteria can't find any source for support, then they are magically-provided with it. This magic source is completely massless, imperceptible and does not take up any space or volume at all.

 

If the bacteria can find support, then the magic disappears. This magic is a source of rescue in the event that the bacteria can't get what they want/need.

Edited May 16, 2009 by Green Xenon

[confused]

what happens if there are people visiting u what would you do about the bacteria on them?

[Green Xenon]

what happens if there are people visiting u what would you do about the bacteria on them?

 

1. "My favorite bacteria" are harmless so my guests are safe

 

2. There are enough of "my favorite bacteria" in my house to dominate any other bacterium that enters

[CharonY]

Couldn't a filter with microscopic parts be added to the vents to selectively allow gram-positive and gram-neutral bacteria in while filtering out the gram-negative bacteria based on the shapes of the bacterial cells?

Hopefully something like this could be used to keep out those nasty fungi [such as athletes foot] and allergens [such as dust and pollen] while welcoming in the good bugs.

 

Nope, you cannot. The Gram stain is only indicative of the structure of the cell wall. The actual morphology is not dependent too much on it. Moreover, why the obsession with Gram-positive bacteria? You are aware that some of the nastiest bugs (as e.g. Mycobacterium tuberculosis are actually positive? I assume you are concerned about the inflammatory properties of the LPS, but this is not the only thing you should focus on. Fungi and other eukaryotic cells are larger than the average bacteria, so a size exclusion filter should work.

[Green Xenon]

Nope, you cannot. The Gram stain is only indicative of the structure of the cell wall. The actual morphology is not dependent too much on it. Moreover, why the obsession with Gram-positive bacteria? You are aware that some of the nastiest bugs (as e.g. Mycobacterium tuberculosis are actually positive? I assume you are concerned about the inflammatory properties of the LPS, but this is not the only thing you should focus on. Fungi and other eukaryotic cells are larger than the average bacteria, so a size exclusion filter should work.

 

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an obligate aerobe, so it is not in my list of favorite bacteria to begin with.

[CharonY]

Then take your pick among Staphylococcus, Listeria, Streptococcus...

and in any case, you have not answered my question.

Well and besides M. tuberculosis does have a persistent anaerobic state.