Use of "petri dish" as metaphor in non-scientific context [closed]

Solution 1:

Yes, it can!

The city was a petri dish for crime.

Solution 2:

Petri dish is used metaphorically quite often. Here are a few examples from a quick search of recent article titles:

Is Facebook the Petri Dish of Jealousy in Your Love Life? What “Cyberpsychology” Says

The United States: A Petri Dish of Liberal Democracy

The Internet is the petri-dish of humanity. We can't control what grows in it, but we don't have to watch either.

Wireless hotspots: petri dish of wireless security

Solution 3:

Of course petri dish can be used as a metaphor. I think what you meant to ask was Is petri dish used as a metaphor in non-scientific contexts? And the answer is: yes.

Here's an example from The Economist, April 2011:

This grim scenario, however, was only averted by a deal that treated [Washington] DC as a sort of petri dish for House Republicans’ social experiment.

I.e. a petri dish is a place where (or upon which) experiments are conducted.