Story highlights Scientist collect bacteria, spread it around on petri dish and seal it with epoxy to create art

Over 85 submissions of petri art were received at the Agar Art Contest

One submission looked like Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night"

(CNN) When it comes to art, germs and bacteria are not the first things that come to mind, but scientists are trying to show a more artful side to an otherwise unappealing topic.

To change that view, organizers from the American Society for Microbiology held their first Agar Art Contest. The submissions that came in from around the world looked more like paintings than a collection of bacteria in petri dishes. One even resembles Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night" painting.

Mehmet Berkmen and Maria Penil's "Neurons" was selected by a panel of judges to win first place, and their other submission, "Cell to Cell," got the people's choice award for generating the highest number of likes on Facebook.

Berkmen, a research scientist from New England Biolabs, collaborated with artist Maria Penil to create the winning petri dish. They met a few years ago when Berkmen saw one of her paintings at a restaurant where she was a waitress. He noticed that it had biological undertones, so he approached Penil and offered to teach her how to make petri art.

Using agar, a gelatinous-like substance to fill the petri dish, creates a canvas where the microbes can be collected, spread around like paint and allowed to grow. Berkmen showed Penil how to manipulate the microbes, then use epoxy to seal the bacteria and contents in the dish.

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