Evolution Of Bacteria Caught On Time Lapse Video By Harvard Researchers

Microbes are organisms who can best exhibit Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Antibiotic resistance is probably one of the most distressing problems faced in the medical industry. The rapid development of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic microorganisms is due to the misuse of prescription antibiotics.

Harvard News reported that this lead to the development of super strains which are insusceptible to any antibiotics known today. To further explain the severity of this problem, a group of researchers from Harvard Medical School released a  time-lapse video that shows just how amazing yet frightening the evolution of bacteria is.

The researchers were able to demonstrate antibiotic resistance by building a giant Petri dish (MEGA- Microbial Evolution Growth Arena Plate) which contained a growth media for Escherichia coli, a common coliform and pathogenic bacterium. They subdivided the MEGA plate and placed a gradient of increasing concentration of trimethoprim and ciprofloxacin antibiotics as it goes inward.

The E. coli was then inoculated on the outer ends of the MEGA plate with no antibiotics. As shown in the video, slowly E. coli managed to reach the middle of the MEGA plate surpassing each level of increasing concentrations of antibiotics. On the 12th day, it was able to occupy the entire MEGA plate even the middle inner band with 1000 times more antibiotic concentration than the outer bands. The researchers explained that this is due to the exponential cell reproduction and mutation of the E. coli cells through binary fission. Because of the mutations, E. coli  managed to produce antibiotic-resistant strains.

According to one of the researchers, Michael Baym told IFL Science,  "What we saw suggests that evolution is not always led by the most resistant mutants. Sometimes it favors the first to get there. The strongest mutants are, in fact, often moving behind more vulnerable strains. Who gets there first may be predicated on proximity rather than mutation strength."

The video might amuse most of the viewers, however, the fact still remains that microorganisms evolve way much faster than we develop antibiotic drugs. The researchers hope that it can enlighten the viewers and convince them to take antibiotics as prescribed by the doctor to prevent the worst case scenarios from even happening.