Germ painting

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Germ paintings are small "paintings" created on agar plates using highly pigmented bacteria. Cultures of bacteria are brushed onto the agar plate, and then the germ painting is incubated. While initially one cannot tell that there is anything on the plate, the highly pigmented bacteria cultures create a vivid image after appropriate incubation. Note the average incubation time is about 2 hours

Alexander Fleming, the man most commonly credited with the discovery of penicillin, was known for creating exquisite germ paintings.