JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY & BIOLOGY EDUCATION, December 2011, p.

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Copyright 2011 American Society for Microbiology DOI: 10.1128/jmbe.v12i2.268

Tips and Tools

Bugs and Movies: Using Film to Teach Microbiology

Manuel Snchez
Departamento de Produccin Vegetal y Microbiologa, Universidad Miguel Hernndez, Spain
A YouTube channel has been created to watch commented video fragments from famous movies or
TV series that can be used to teach microbiology. Although microbes are usually depicted in terms
of their roles in causing infectious disease, numerous movies reflect other scientific aspects, such as
biotechnological applications or bioethical issues.

INTRODUCTION
As in other disciplines, many microbiology professors
use references to scenes from famous movies or TV series
as a teaching resource in their classes. It is important to
remember that film is art, and film does not need to reflect
accurately the real world. Often credibility is sacrificed in
favor of the show, but the explanation and correction of
microbiological movie goofs is also a good teaching tool. To
this end, I developed and implemented a YouTube channel
that provides students with an interactive opportunity to
review fragments of pictures where microbes have a role.
The fragments include annotations about microbiological
aspects based on the action watched on the screen, which
can be used in developing questions to be answered by
the students and encourage debates about scientific methodology. This tool was designed for its use with students
learning a basic Microbiology course in Biotechnology and
in Environmental Science careers, but it has been also used
with students who aspire to careers in Medicine.

PROCEDURE

of the episode mentioned above. In the first one, Grissom

identified the fungus; on the screen appears information
about its uses in biotechnology as a pullulan producer. In the
second part, Grissom performs an experiment with Greg,
his assistant, raising bioethical issues concerning the use of
humans in scientific experiments. In the third part, we see
the success of the experiment; so it is possible to discuss
such issues as experimental design and the importance of
negative controls in science. Finally, Grissom uses the forensic information to identify the suspect: the fungus produces
an allergic reaction in people of Scandinavian origin (Fig. 1).
The information that appears within the videos is short, so
I created a blog (1) associated with the channel where the
student can find more information related to the subject,
such as articles or Web links. This particular clip has been
used during class time when introducing the subject of allergic reactions produced by microorganisms.
At the moment there are 21 videos in the Microbios
y Cine channel. To create the clips, movies in avi format
were spliced and joined using the freeware program VirtualDub-1.9.10. The clips were uploaded in the YouTube
channel, and then the annotations were included using the
tools provided by YouTube for video editing. Apart from

A YouTube channel was created in order to upload video

fragments with a microbiological scope from popular movies
or TV series. As I teach in a Spanish university, the name
of the channel is Microbios y Cine (4), but I also created an
English version named Bugs & Movies (2). As an example of
how this works, I used a fragment from CSI Las Vegas episode
Let the seller beware, where the presence of the fungus
Aureobasidium pullulans in a crime scene helps Grissom and
his team to resolve the case.
The movie fragment (3) has a runtime of 3 minutes and
19 seconds, and was composed by joining four different parts
Authors mailing address: Edificio Torrepinet, Campus de
Elche, Departamento de Produccin Vegetal y Microbiologa, Universidad Miguel Hernndez, 03202 Elche, Spain.
Phone: 34-966-65-8499. Fax: 34-966-65-8586. E-mail:
m.sanchez@umh.es.
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Fig. 1. Screen shot of CSI Las Vegas, including a technical explanation

of the scene.

Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education

Volume 12, Number 2

Snchez: Bugs and Movies

the one commented on above, scenes from the following

motion pictures have been annotated:
Arrowsmith (1931). The classic movie directed by John Ford
and based on the best-seller written by Sinclair Lewis still
reflects what it means to follow a scientific career. In the
nine clips from this movie, several situations are shown, such
as the appearance of a research laboratory, the fight against
infectious diseases, quarantine measures, development of
new antimicrobial agents, and the publish or perish policy
of some institutions. In particular, clip number 6 has been
used as a practical exercise with students who have learned
basic microbiology laboratory techniques. After they finish
the practical session dedicated to the fixation and staining of microbial samples, they are asked to watch the clip
in their homes or in the library in order to write a brief
report indicating the errors made by the movie character
when preparing a microbial sample for optical microscopy.
The Andromeda Strain (1971). It may be considered as the most
microbiological film of the Seventh Art. The nine clips from
this techno-thriller can be used to show how a multidisciplinary
team deals with the isolation and characterization of a virulent
pathogen. Issues to be discussed with the students are bio
security, astrobiology, epidemiology, sterilization and isolation
procedures, data collection, testing experimental hypothesis,
and the handling of laboratory animals (5). This movie was
projected in its full length as an extra activity where attendance
was voluntary. After the show, professors and students initiated
a discussion on the topics depicted in the film.
The Libertine (2004), starring Johnny Depp as John Wilmot,
2nd Earl of Rochester, the English libertine poet who died
of syphilis in 1680. The clip has been used in the classroom
to show the progression and symptoms of the disease in
its third stage.
Cuckoos Nest episode from CSI, New York, shows how the
CSI team discovers fibers of a biomaterial developed by a
biotech company. This is a good example of biotechnological
products from microbes and embedded marketing. I use this
clip with students from the Industrial Microbiology course
to discuss biotechnology and its influence in our daily life.

Volume 12, Number 2

CONCLUSION
The YouTube channel Microbios y Cine, and its English
version Bugs and Movies, was created to provide an engaging
activity for reinforcing fundamental microbiological terms
and scientific concepts to help students take advantage of
the countless occasions where the microorganisms have a
film role. Most often microbes are the background actors
that cause some kind of infectious disease to the main characters, such as plague, cholera, tuberculosis or gangrene.
But in other shows, the microbes are the Big Bad Guy,
either as a terrible enemy that a few brave scientists must
beat and/or with which physicians must engage in an epic
struggle, or as a biological weapon capable of annihilating
all humanity. And finally, there are occasions in which the
microbes are the heroes even the saviors of the planet
as in The War of the Worlds.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to thank professors Elena
Martn-Orozco, Inmaculada Meseguer, Marina Torreblanca, and Francisca Colom for their comments and
opinions on the relation between movies and microbes.
Parts of this manuscript have been presented in XXIII
Congress of Sociedad Espaola de Microbiologa, July 2011,
Salamanca, Spain. The author declares that there are no
conflicts of interest.

References
1. Bugs and Movies Blog: http://bugsandmovies.blogspot.
com/2010/11/csi-las-vegas-beware-with-aureobasidium.html
2. Bugs & Movies YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/
BugsandMovies
3. Let the seller beware, annotated clip. http://www.youtube.com/
user/BugsandMovies#p/a/u/0/v_NKatrilFc
4. Microbios y Cine YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/
user/manuel5sanchez5
5. Sanchez, M. 2011. Biosafety and biological weapons: the
Andromeda strain (1971). J. Medicine and Movies 7:1520.
Available from: http://revistamedicinacine.usal.es/index.php/
en/vol7/num1/626

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