More and more bacteria are becoming insensitive to antibiotics, not least due to excessive drug consumption. According to the EU, this problem could soon become as explosive as the environmental issue - and antibiotic resistance threatens to become one of the main causes of death worldwide. Research must therefore find alternatives - not miracle cures, but permanently effective drugs. There has already been one in the past: One hundred years ago, the French biologist Félix d'Hérelle discovered mysterious "bacteria-eating" viruses, known as bacteriophages or phages for short. He used these to successfully treat bacterial infections before the development of antibiotics, but his method was forgotten again. Is bacteriophage therapy the miracle medicine of the future?
Narrator
05 Oct 1999
Virus alert in Cologne: a deadly influenza pathogen has been released. Shortly afterwards, Sonja Kessler finds her husband Reinhard, a virus researcher, dead in their apartment. Everything points to suicide, but an unusual trail leads her and her stepson Jan to an apartment rented by Reinhard. Reinhard was apparently secretly researching a deadly virus there.
21 Feb 2021
NASA launches its most ambitious hunt for traces of life on Mars, landing a car-sized rover in a rocky, ancient river delta. The rover will stow samples for possible return to Earth and test technology that may pave the way for human travel to Mars.
09 May 2024
Filmmaker Werner Herzog combs through the film archives of volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft to create a film that celebrates their legacy.
03 Jul 2023
Egyptian archeologists dig into history, discovering tombs and artifacts over 4,000 years old as they search for a buried pyramid in this documentary.
24 Jul 2023
A unique behind-the-scenes access to NASA’s ambitious mission to launch the James Webb Space Telescope, following a team of engineers and scientists as they take the next giant leap in our quest to understand the universe.
13 Feb 1993
Dr Sloan suspects that his flame of long ago, famous heart surgeon Dr Rachel Walters, has murdered US Senator Cabot on the occasion of a guest operation at the community hospital. After a long investigation, Sloan and fellow detectives Dr Bentley and Dr Parker discover her motive: Years ago, Cabot had caused a hit-and-run accident that put her daughter into coma. But how did Dr Walters manage to pass the deadly bacteria on to the senator in front of TV cameras?
09 Feb 2016
Coming in all shapes and sizes, bacteria are present in every corner of the Earth. Their purposes and types are even more diverse, with only 1% being truly harmful. Dive into the world of Bacteria to experience the latest discoveries and scientific knowledge surrounding these plentiful and necessary microbes.
09 Sep 2014
Epidemics are rare events but when they do occur, they can be devastating. Throughout human history, many viruses have claimed lives and caused panic throughout the world. How prepared are health officials for future outbreaks? And what does the latest viral research reveal about these mysterious organisms?
26 Apr 2024
Delve into the digestive system with this lighthearted and informative documentary that demystifies the role gut health plays in our overall well-being.
11 Sep 1993
The story of the discovery of the AIDS epidemic and the political infighting of the scientific community hampering the early fight with it.
28 Apr 2023
With the help of diver and biologist Laurent Ballesta, a scientific expedition explores three sunken Italian volcanic sites in the Mediterranean.
12 Apr 2016
Immortality and eternal life: Will this great human dream come true? In any case, cryonics is making ever greater progress, human cloning no longer seems impossible and research is being carried out into the digital reproduction of the brain. Taking stock in the USA, Canada, Europe and Russia. The documentary delves into a world in which all-too-human people refuse to simply be wiped out by death. It shows how difficult it is to resist the promises of eternal life and also highlights the economic interests behind such endeavors. Google's push is just one sign of a possible two-tier society of the future: on the one hand, the rich who have access to such "offers", on the other, the rest of society.
07 Jun 2024
The documentary follows leaders and community members from the tropical Pacific island nation who are making bold changes to move the needle on marine protection. With a population of under 2,000 people and a marine reserve covering 40% of its waters, Niue has demonstrated the ways in which traditional knowledge and contemporary science can live in harmony for the benefit of people and the planet.
13 Mar 2020
In a Documentary Special, Matt Frei speaks to leading healthcare experts, asking how the NHS will cope with coronavirus, and if we should be acting quicker to stop things spiralling out of control.
05 Mar 2015
Dr. David Suzuki explains how antibiotics have been over prescribed for decades and it has led to the fact that now there are bacterial infections that are resistant to them, and people are dying by the thousands.
19 Jan 1991
Ring of Fire is about the immense natural force of the great circle of volcanoes and seismic activity that rings the Pacific Ocean and the varied people and cultures who coexist with them. Spectacular volcanic eruptions are featured, including Mount St. Helens, Navidad in Chile, Sakurajima in Japan, and Mount Merapi in Indonesia.
01 Jul 2022
If the beach is synonymous with holidays and relaxation, it is also of capital importance for the animals and plants that flourish there. Between wet towels, umbrellas and sandcastles, the real inhabitants of this golden expanse have developed amazing strategies to adapt to the tourist crowds.
28 Feb 2020
Beijing, China, 2020. Empty streets, mandatory masks, checkpoints, the entire state apparatus used to impose severe restrictions on population movements. An entire country quarantined to fight a fierce epidemic…
25 Mar 2017
Several hundred million kilometers away, the space probe "Rosetta" and the small lander "Philae" orbit the sun on the comet "Churyumov-Gerasimenko", without any contact with Earth. On September 30, 2016 - two years after the launch of "Philae" - the landing of "Rosetta" on the comet marked the end of a space mission rich in discoveries, successes and setbacks. The documentary "Rendezvous with a comet: Mission Rosetta" revisits this extraordinary space adventure. After the landing of "Philae" on the comet "Churi" in November 2014 - probably one of the greatest successes in space research since the moon landing - the mission continued and provided a whole series of surprises.
14 Oct 2014
FRONTLINE investigates the widespread use of antibiotics in food animals and whether it is fueling the growing crisis of antibiotic resistance in people. Also this hour: An exclusive interview with the family of a young man who died in a nightmare bacteria outbreak that swept through a hospital at the National Institutes of Health.