Students at Changchun Medical College in Northeast China’s Jilin province used bacteria of different colors to create a collection of paintings on petri dishes.

The bacteria needs to be incubated at 37C for 24 hours to reproduce and finally form a bacterial lawn. The paintings then appear 24 hours after completion.

"Bacteria paintings have unique vitality, and they will grow under certain conditions. The painting may turn out to be quite different from what was planned,” a student told the local media. “This makes the creation of bacteria painting full of charm.”