Microbiologist recreates 'Starry Night' with bacteria in petri dish

A number of microbiologists put their art skills to the test recently as part of the American Society for Microbiology's first Agar Art contest. 

The contest invited microbiologists to "create a piece of art using microbes as the paint and agar as the canvas." Agar is a gelatinous material derived from algae.

One microbiologist created a bacterial version of Vincent Van Gogh's iconic "Starry Night" using combinations of different bacteria across five petri dishes.

Submissions were analyzed for their creativity, design and presentation, as well as on the written description's scientific accuracy and appropriateness for a general audience. 

Check out the winners below.

First place: Neurons, submitted by Mehmet Berkmen of New England Biolabs, with artist Maria Penil. (American Society for Microbiology/Facebook)

Second place: NYC Biome MAP, submitted by Christine Marizzi. This piece was created as a collaboration between citizen scientists and artists at Genspace: New York City's Community Biolab. (American Society for Microbiology/Facebook)

Third place: Harvest Season, created by Maria Eugenia Inda, a postdoctoral researcher from Argentina working at Cold Spring Harbor Labs. (American Society for Microbiology/Facebook)

People's Choice: Cell to Cell, submitted by Mehmet Berkmen with artist Maria Penil. (American Society for Microbiology/Facebook)

View all of the submissions here.