In: Biology
What is TRUE of using heat to kill organisms? Check all that apply
all organisms will die by boiling water
moist heat is more effective at higher pressures
heat does not inactivate viruses
dry heat is more effective at decontaminating items than moist heat
B. Moist heat is more effective at higher pressures.
Moist heat sterilization is the technique that uses hot steam to sterilize laboratory products. However some bacterial endospores and archaea are resistant at higher temperatures, thus by increasing the pressure in the chamber an efficient sterilization of the products can be attained.
Autoclave uses moist heat sterilization technique. It is usually operated at 121 C and kept hold at 15 psi where all potential microbes and endospores are destroyed.
All organisms are not necessarily destroyed in boiling water. As mentioned above heat resistant endospores are inactive forms of bacterium that are not affected by boiling. Incineration or heating with pressure is needed to kill those forms. Heating inactivates almost all the viruses by denaturing their outercoat and proteins. It is one of the efficient techniques used to inactivate viruses. Moist heat is more effective than dry heat in decontamination. Several biosafety methods adhere to moist heat sterilization than dry heat due to several factors such as time taken to heat, temperatures required etc.