Question: How long does it take for bacteria to multiply and go out of hand?

Katie Fala answered on 13 Nov 2019:

It depends on the bacteria and the conditions! The fastest growing that I know is a bacterium called Vibrio natriegens; it divides and replicates every 10 mins. So if you had only one cell starting off, there’d be 64 of them after an hour, or 262,144 after just 3 hours! On the other hand, some bacteria take absolutely ages to grow – scientists found bacteria in rocks under the seabed that only reproduce once every 10,000 years. It will also depend on the conditions – bacteria will multiply much quicker with their favourite food, temperature, pH and oxygen level for example 🙂