Since I’m sure you’re all aching to know:

According to the nutrition information on the back of the bag and some quick calculations, powdered Xanthan Gum has a density of a little over 610mg/ml (or about 10 slugs/hogshead).

I think I may be an Applied Microbiology nerd.

See, when I put dirty dishes in the sink to wash later, I often fill them up with water to soak. I didn’t see this much in Idaho, but down here in Texas I notice that if I leave them too long, the water will sometimes end up turning into a thick slime.

And here I am, wondering what kind of slime it is and if I could find a way to produce it in quantity and purify it (and then find something useful to do with it).

I’m also wondering if this delightfully simple gel electrophoresis technique might be scaled up for more production-type purposes.

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Epicanis

The Author is (currently) an autodidactic student of Industrial and Environmental microbiology, who is sick of people assuming all microbiology should be medical in nature, and who would really like to be allowed to go to graduate school one of these days now that he's finished his BS in Microbiology (with a bonus AS in Chemistry). He also enjoys exploring the Big Room (the one with the really high blue ceiling and big light that tracks from one side to the other every day) and looking at its contents from unusual mental angles.

2 thoughts on “Since I’m sure you’re all aching to know:”

  1. But….then how DO you make your household supply of exopolysaccharides?

    And what kind of microbiologist doesn’t like stagnant water? There’s all kinds of microbiology that goes on in those! Not like boring old CLEAN water…

    (Oddly enough, I actually dislike getting food – whether it’s still edible or not – on my hands – including used dishwater. It’s not so bad with gloves, though.)

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