News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The growth and spread of antibiotics-resistant bacteria has been revealed by scientists in a timelaspe video showing a 'superbug' fighting against drugs.

In a creative stroke inspired by Hollywood wizardry, scientists have designed a simple way to observe how bacteria move as they become impervious to drugs.

Filmed to show the evolution of bacteria on a 'mega-plate' Petri dish measuring 2ft by 4ft, the film reveals a much more exciting lab experiment than most of us saw in a standard secondary school science class .

The experiment, conducted by scientists at Harvard University Medical School , used nine bands with different amounts of antibiotic in the agar - from a low concentration at the dges to a gradually increasing concentration near the centre.

(Image: Harvard Medical School)

The background is dyed black with ink and the bacteria appears as white on top of it.

First, the bacteria spreads at the sides where there is no antibiotic, until it reaches the next band, then a mutant form evolves to survive the antibiotics and spreads.

At the next band, it have to battle more antibiotic, so it mutates again - and again and again until it reaches the centre.

As the video explains: "Bacteria can evolve resistance to extremely high concentrations of antibiotic at a time."

(Image: Harvard Medical School)

The experiments are thought to provide the first large-scale glimpse of the maneuvers of bacteria as they encounter increasingly higher doses of antibiotics and adapt to survive - and thrive - in them.