Antibiotics under the microscope.

A film which describes how the medium of film has been instrumental in the study of bacteria; a gram negative bacteria is shown magnified many times. Photographic techniques help in analysing the differing effects of antibiotics on bacteria. It is explained that there are two kinds of bacteria; bacteriostatic and bactericidal. The action of antibiotics is described. Timelapse photography shows e-coli multiplying and then after the action of different groups of antibiotics. Their cellular structure is illustrated graphically. Dr George Rollinson has led a research study looking at the speed of the action of antibiotics and the synthetic penicillins. Some of the research is carried out using video-ing and then subsequently using cinefilm. The specifics of their appearance are described over time after exposure to various agents; ampicillin, amoxycillin. The pros and cons of each antibiotic are summarised.