Here's A Gorgeous Petri Dish Handprint Of An 8-Year-Old After He Played Outside

Don't worry, it's all totally normal.

By
Kasia Galazka
by Kasia Galazka

BuzzFeed Staff

After her son played outside, microbiologist Tasha Sturm asked him to press his hand into a petri dish so she could see what colonized.

Tasha Sturm / Cabrillo College / Via microbeworld.org

She posted an image of this large plate to Microbe World after letting the handprint incubate for a few days. The results were spectacular: Flora bloomed in a hand-shaped colorful display. The white might be Staphylococcus, and the oranges and yellows are most likely yeast found on plants and dirt.

Sturm emphasized to BuzzFeed that this is normal flora and how humans build a healthy immune system. Unless you are immunocompromised or have a break in the skin, then they're nothing you have to worry about.

She also posted two close-ups of some funky growths.

http://www.microbeworld.org/component/jlibrary/?view=article&id=13869
http://www.microbeworld.org/component/jlibrary/?view=article&id=13870

On the left is a close-up of the organism on the palm print, which Sturm speculated is a Bacillus species, normally found in soil. On the right is an unknown organism, which was outside the imprint, so she wasn't sure if it came from her son's hand or was a contaminant.

To make a handprint yourself, Sturm included a few basic instructions in the comments (though you'll need some specialized equipment and basic safety know-how).

H/T Reddit

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