Watch evolution in action as bacteria mutate to resist antibiotic drugs

It looks like a football field, but this four-feet by two-feet petri dish is playing host to very different sort of game — nothing more or less than evolution itself. The dish is known as the MEGA-plate, or microbial evolution growth arena plate, and it shows how quickly bacteria can evolve resistance against antibiotic drugs. It's incredibly impressive to look at, but it's also a grim reminder of the danger posed by 'superbugs' — bacteria that have evolved to survive antibiotics.

The demonstration was set up by researchers at Harvard and the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, with their work described in a paper in Science. The dish is filled with agar jelly, a nutritious medium perfect for growing bacteria, and its surface is...