Sending bacteria via mail

[Tom Dougherty]

In article <4lno5e$boq at gina.zfn.uni-bremen.de>, a03m at biologie.uni-bremen.de (Georg Kroeger) says:
>
>Dear Netters,
>someone told me about a simple method do prepare clones for sending by
>mail: spot some suspension culture on a sterile pice of whatman, dry
>(air dry or lyophylisate?) seal in a plastic bag - that's it. Put it
>in an envelope and off they go! To get the clones back, just throw the
>paper in liquid selective medium!
>Sounds very simple and easy to do!  Does anyone know about this
>method?

This is the method used by the E. coli Genetic Stock Center to send out 
strains of E. coli with known markers.  Obviously, it won't work for certain
finicky bacteria, such as pneumococcus or gonococcus, but then you 
wouldn't want to send pathogens through the mail without proper 
packaging.  I would Email Mary Berlyn at the E. coli genetic center for 
details.
		Tom