People’s choice winner Zita Pöstényi, a microbiologist at SYNLAB Hungary Ltd, used three agar plates and four different bacteria to create a pattern inspired by Hungarian folk art.

According to Black, they store the plates in incubators for a day or two and then the colors start coming out and pictures appear. The next agar art competition will be in March of 2024.

Different types of bacteria, yeast, fungi and mold thrive under unique conditions, Fernholz said. Scientists may use different agar plates and different microorganisms to achieve a certain look.

In the professional category, for people who have access to a microbiology lab stocked with all the essentials needed to make agar art, the regional winner of the Americas was a team from the ...

Several agar plates show glow in the dark bacteria art painted at the Agar Art event. The bacteria were only easy to see in a specialized dark room. (Lillian Ercanbrack) ...