The Antibiotic Hunters

Gr 7 Up—The overuse of antibiotics has led to the emergence of superbugs that are immune to the effects of the antibiotics presently at our disposal. As a result, microbiologists travel to places of great biodiversity, such as Panama, to discover new antibiotics to treat those superbugs. The scientists search for animals and places that might host these antibiotics, from the algae-encrusted hair of a three-toed sloth to underground caves. This documentary tells the tale of a woman with persistent intestinal issues because of the effects of drug-resistant bacterial disease. While this is a fascinating story of the scientific and human cost of drug immunity, production values are less than ideal, though certainly acceptable. The film stock is sometimes blurry, and the sound mix causes occasional difficulty in understanding some of the speakers, particularly those out in the field.