A culture plate contaminated with microorganisms (left) has become a work of art. | Photos: Elliot Gobet

“When I saw the plate, I was devastated”, says Elliot Gobet. The photo on the left captures his early days as a research assistant in a plant biology laboratory at the University of Fribourg in late 2023. He was then a master’s student and had obtained it by scanning a culture plate of seedlings: thale cress, a model plant. However, what we see here first and foremost is the work of red and white microorganisms – likely bacteria – that have invaded the agar gel where the plants were growing, proliferating particularly along the roots.

This experiment was meant to allow for the observation of root growth for a project aimed at developing a biodegradable herbicide. But such contaminations distort the results and condemn everything to being thrown away and restarted.

“However, it had potential for the faculty’s biology image contest that my professor and a colleague organise every two years”. With his big brother Johan, a photography enthusiast, Gobet retouched the image and tried different compositions. “We filled the void, highlighted the richness of textures, and the relief of contaminations”. On the new montage – presented here on the right – an intriguing and elegant aerial view suddenly emerges: a forest of small green leaves along a flowing trench with ochre reflections and a few white clouds. The botanical and bacterial fresco won second prize in the competition and now hangs in a lecture hall.

The project also underwent a turnaround. The application of a substance to block growth on plant leaves, tested here, posed technical problems and was abandoned. However, the same treatment at the root level seems promising. For Gobet, this photo is therefore primarily symbolic: “This image also represents the search for alternative solutions”. Whether it’s about redirecting an experimental failure or developing eco-friendly herbicides!