How to setup a Microbiological Lab in Africa

This channel is passionate about enabling science in Africa in this video we highlight considerations for setting up a microbiological lab in Africa. We address which industries are impacted with a special feature on pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food and beverage (checking for spoilage and contamination), water municipalities, clinical (anti-microbial agents), etc.
Our guest for the this episode is Ashika Harry taking us through the core technologies.
We also cover the extensive array of equipment that is needed in a microbiological lab including: LAF laminar air flow hood, microbiological safety cabinet (Class II), autoclaves, hot air oven, incubator, microscope, pipettes, bunsen burner, homogenizer, analytical balance, water bath, centrifuge, vortex mixer, lab refrigerator, vacuum pumps and manifolds, PCR thermocycler, etc. Consumables included test tubes, microscope slides, petri dishes, dehydrated microbiological media, pipette tips, serological pipette tips, 47mm filter membranes, disposable microfunnels, filter funnels, parafilm, etc.
We cover the logistics and challenges of qualifying this equipment into Africa.
We cover core techniques required to be used by operators including:
Aspetic techniques - Sterilisation, disinfection, sanitisation,
Culturing Techniques - Isolation, Inoculation, Culture Media preparation, Streak plate method, Spread plate method, Pour plate method, Membrane filtration method.
Incubation which includes plates incubated for growth of microorganisms.
Enumeration of counts either visually or making use of a colony counter or microscope.
Finally identification of morphology (texture, shape, size) staining, directly by microscope or alternate.
Last we contrast traditional and rapid microbiological methods. Rapid methods included chromogenic methods as well as PCR based rapid methods. Here a typical RT-PCR technique focusses on sample enrichment followed by cell lysis and DNA extraction then PCR hybridization, amplification and detection. Rapid molecular microbiology techniques can easily provide a qualitative result for: Aspergillus, Campylobacter, Cronobacter, E.coli O157:H7, Enterobacteriaceae, Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria spp., Salmonella spp., S. Enteritidis, S. Typhimurium, Vibrio.
Core suppliers: CondaLab, NUVE, Leica, Pall Laboratory, Bio-Rad, Bemis, CarlRoth, TPP, Socorex, BiogenetX, Alconox, Hirshmann and many more.
Keywords: sterile and non-sterile product testing, dehydrated microbiological media, pre-poured microbiological plates, microbiological consumables and equipment, applications, service and sales support for microbiology, SANAS accreditation, chromogenic media, colony counting, qualitative vs quantitative checks, RT-PCR,
Hosted by Separations
Ashika Harry and Jeff Verlinden
Phone: [phone] 919 1000 (local)
Email: [e-mail]