2006-02 Bacteria & Mold Speciation
Corporate > News & Events > Bulletins and announcements

February 2006 - CANTEST’s microbiology department has implemented a new, preferred system for the speciation of bacteria and mold using the latest identification system called  Biolog.  A majority of labs currently employ a labour intensive and somewhat ambiguous system of manual biochemical reactions and tests for speciation that puts clients at a major disadvantage as results are often inconsistent, subjective and take weeks to identify.

CANTEST’s new microbiology technological highlights include:

Rapid Results

Using the new Biolog machine, CANTEST is able to speciate mold and bacteria in days rather than weeks.  Typical turn around times are 3 - 4 business days for bacteria and 15 – 17 business days for mold.

Extensive Species Database

Over 1,900 species of bacteria and mold are currently contained in our software and updates are being added continually in an effort to ensure even the most obscure species are captured. 

Subjectivity Removed Through Carbon Source Metabolic “fingerprinting”

Quoting Brian Sunkel, Biolog’s Marketing Manager of Microbiology, “Mycologists have traditionally relied upon microscopic and macroscopic visual methods to identify fungi.  They have typically backed up this visual interpretation with time-consuming biochemical tests that can take several weeks.  Even experts can often disagree about species-level identifications.”  This system’s use of specific, pre-selected carbon sources produces a characteristic pattern or “fingerprint” which is then automatically read and recorded in seconds.  This eliminates subjectivity, resulting in rapid and accurate identification of massive numbers of bacterial and fungal species.