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Understanding Bacteria & Viruses |
“So naturalists observe the flea, hath smaller fleas that on him prey, and these have smaller fleas to bite ‘em, and so on proceed ad infinitum...” Johnathan Swift 1730.
• Shows how viruses have impacted human society throughout time
• Explains what viruses are and how they reproduce
• How World War I contributed to the influenza pandemic of 1918
• How our immune system recognizes and destroyed viruses
• How viruses “shift”, leaving us defenseless against them
• Looks at the modern war against emergent viruses
• Bacteria uses micro-cinematography, archival footage, interviews with leading bacteriologists, and case histories to explain the dichotomous nature of these organisms
• Shows how botulism toxin, the most deadly substance on Earth, is used to treat certain muscle diseases and may one day be used to treat Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, and multiple sclerosis
• Offers a frightening view of Streptococcus pyogenes, the “flesh-eating bacteria” that can destroy human tissue at a rate of an inch an hour
• Reveals how our very mobile population facilitates the dispersal of strains of bacteria resistant to all antibiotics around the world (51:52/51:53).
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