But what was really the point of all that animal suffering? You don't
need to put Cryptococcus into mice to get it to grow or prove a point
that it's neurotoxic. I would have believed it, if I were a student,
without the animal sacrifice. I don't even want to know what you were
poking at mouse eyes for - and the rabbit stuff is really disgusting
(sorry Larry - I guess I'd never make it as a researcher). One of my
fellow techs keeps rabbits in her basement as pets, and she'd probably
pass out if I ever related that story to her.
Cryptococcus grows very nicely on Sabouraud's Dex agar. I have seen it
twice in spinal fluid specimens. I don't know the patient outcomes.
Judy Dilworth, M.T. (ASCP)
Microbiology sans animal sacrifice
Larry Farrell wrote:
<gross torture snipped>
> Sorry, didn't mean to make anyone sick, but those were standard procedures in "the
> old days." Those procedures are still used but certainly not in the vast majority
> of teaching labs.
