Iraqi laboratory worker and artist Mustafa al-Yasiri was able to combine his scientific experience with his artistic talent to master an unfamiliar type of art, painting with bacteria.
Al-Yasiri was seen replacing artist's tools such as canvases, brushes and paint with laboratory tools like Agar plates, tubes, gas torches, and the most important component, bacteria, in footage filmed on Wednesday in Kirkuk.
"The idea was that we, as a team, were observing the bacteria and its colors and seeing the results and new shapes, frankly, it motivated us to draw," said al-Yasiri.
"The [Agar] plates we use, are plates that were used for work but did not produce results. According to the laboratory protocol, it must be destroyed, but we started using these plates, and instead of destroying it, we use it to come up with a better scientific and technical result."
It is worth noting that drawings do not appear on agar jelly immediately, but only after it is placed in the incubator for a whole day, which makes al-Yasiri's task more difficult and proves his creative artistic imagination.

SOT, Mustafa Al-Yasiri, lab worker and artist (Arabic): "We achieved success at a level of 60%, and this thing as a first experiment was very good. I consider it a good result. As for the idea, as a start, we are a team inside the laboratory, and this team gathered around the interest in this subject, this is what brought us together, so the proposal [of the team] was to experiment and use the plates we have. The [Agar] plates we use, are plates that were used for work but did not produce results. According to the laboratory protocol, it must be destroyed, so we started using these plates, and instead of destroying it, we use it to come up with a better scientific and technical result."

SOT, Mustafa Al-Yasiri, lab worker and artist (Arabic): "The idea was that we, as a team, were observing the bacteria and their colors and seeing the results and new shapes, frankly, it motivated us to draw, so the idea of the team began with experimenting with it, and after we worked and saw the results, the passion inside us increased, so we wanted to experiment more and develop the work, and this requires us to study bacteria more widely, learn how to deal with it, and develop our drawing and technique in terms of drawing with bacteria."