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Microorganisms are rarely found as pure cultures in nature and need to be isolated from their numerous microbial neighbors. The techniques of enrichment and isolation are designed to do just that. Enrichment provides a medium where the desired organism can thrive, while preventing the growth of undesired organisms. Enrichment techniques can be as simple as heating a solution, incubating at a certain temperature, or adding a single extra ingredient to a broth. They can also involve difficult formulations that require exact mixtures of gases, specific compounds or stringent nutrient conditions. In any case the goal is the same, growth of the desired microbe. Once a desired organisms is growing in an enrichment broth it is typically isolated by streak plating or some other method to obtain isolated colonies. The newly pure microbe can then be studied to determine its properties.

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