The Rustling of the Leaves – a report from scientific workshops from the Beyond Language – Microbiology series for students of the UWr College for Interdisciplinary Individual Studies
“The human spirit, driven by an invincible force, will never cease to ask: What is beyond ?” Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895), a French chemist, pharmacist, and microbiologist
On May 16 and June 6, 2024, students of the UWr College for Interdisciplinary Individual Studies visited the Department of Molecular Microbiology of the University of Wrocław, where they learned about research methodologies that were new to them during a specialized microbiology workshop organized by prof. Gabriela Bugla-Płoskońska, and led by dr Katarzyna Guz-Regner and her assistants, Julia Śledzińska and Klaudia Grodzicka.
The series of workshops was preceded by a presentation of the historical outline of the remarkable building at ul. Przybyszewskiego 63, where the Faculty of Biological Sciences of the University of Wrocław is located.
In this quiet and picturesque area, we could explore science from a new research perspective, different from the methodologies used in our individual interdisciplinary fields of study.
The knowledge acquired about the trees in the Sołtysowice district and the surrounding areas of Wrocław was truly interdisciplinary.
We also learned about the types and operation of tools used to study and monitor air quality in our city.
After a short fieldwork, facing theories and axioms, it was time for action! The object of the workshop was to examine the air quality in different districts of Wrocław; leaves collected in the places where we live were used as research material.
The workshop was conducted under laboratory conditions. Each participant was trained and familiarized with the rules of the laboratory.
Under the watchful eye of dr Guz-Gegner’s research team, we proceeded to perform precision surgery on our leaves – we inoculated them on sterile Petri dishes prepared for this purpose with a special agar medium used for cultivating microorganism cultures.
We had to wait until June for the results.
During the following classes, colonies of white and red yeast, as well as huge amounts of various molds, appeared on the cultures.
Workshop participants prepared their own preparations, which they could look at under a microscope and then copy onto a test card.
The research conclusions are not optimistic. The biological environment of Wrocław – the air – that we breathe in the city is, at best, of “correct quality”.
The microbiology workshop proved to be a great way to experience how important accuracy, patience and reliability are in the passion for research, and how insidious and dangerous can be what the naked eye cannot see, but which sometimes makes our lives miraculously saved.
Microorganisms rule the world!
The culmination of the June meeting was a fascinating guest lecture by scientists from Comenius University in Bratislava – dr Marek Straka and dr Martina Dubinova on bacteriophages, their potential in combating drug-resistant bacteria and the key role they will probably play in the survival of humanity.
During workshops at the Department of Molecular Microbiology of the University of Wrocław, in an interdisciplinary group of experts, we experienced the fragility of the ecosystems in which we live…
Plants, animals, and microbes have been working together for a very long time. (…) The tendency to cooperate developed in the process of evolution. Organisms that did not interact with others died. Cooperation is our nature. The key to survival.
Carl Sagan, an American astronomer, planetary scientist, and science communicator
Text and photo report from the workshop at Kolegium MSI
Text: Magdalena Brol, KMSI student
Redaction: Monika Piechota/Piotr P. Chruszczewski
Photos: Piotr P. Chruszczewski
Translated by Maja Szczęśniak (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
