Why is there need to fix the bacteria to the slide?

Answer 1

To heat fix a bacterial smear you would put the specimen on the slide and either put slide on a slide warmer or over a Bunsen burner for a few seconds. Heat fixing a bacterial smear does kill the specimen but it makes the bacteria stick the slide to withstand the rinsing process.

Answer 2

First sterilize your loop, get 1 loop full of D.I. water, and place it in the middle of your slide. Sterilize your loop again, get a little bit of bacteria, and smear it in with the D.I. water, sterilize your loop. Let your slide air dry. When it is air dried, hold it with a clothes pin on one side of your slide, pass it fast through the hottest part of the flame 3 times (If you leave it too long in the fire, it will burst the bacteria)

Answer 3

Fixing kills the specimen and preserves the structures. It also prepares the specimen for staining. There is no one single method to fix a specimen, too much depends on the nature of the specimen itself and on the subsequent preparation steps.

Answer 4

To prevent the bacteria from washing off during staining, to kill the bacteria, etc

Answer 5

so they can be stained.