Microbial pathogens in the movies

Abstract Usually, show business depicts viruses, bacteria, and other microorganisms as one of the worse menaces to mankind. Entertainment movies influence the way audiences understand and perceive these topics. Few films accurately portray the science of microbiology and its social implications. Movies and TV series often feature outbreaks of deadly diseases and the efforts of scientists and medical professionals to contain them. However, entertainment movies can also be used to educate the public about the importance and the impact that microorganisms have on our lives, helping to increase public awareness and appreciation of the world of microbiology. The aim of this review is to show the relationship between movies and microbiology, from the fight against diseases such as AIDS or tuberculosis, to the zombie apocalypse.


Introduction
Maybe one day the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will honor an Oscar aw ar d for micr obes.Ther e ar e numer ous films in which they have participated [according to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), as of 12 June 2023, ther e ar e 22 502 titles related to the k e yw or d "virus," 184 related to "bacteria," and 760 to "infection").To give an example: without "viruses" we would not have suc h cinematic c har acters as the zombies that try to eat Brad Pitt and his family in World War Z , or the cool v ampir es fr om the Blade sa ga.Pr obabl y micr obes will ne v er hav e their well-deserv ed prize because of their dreadful reputation.In entertainment mo vies , micr obes usuall y play the "bad bugs" r ole, like the ones that cause pla gue, c holer a, Ebola, AIDS, or zombie outbr eaks (P a ppas et al. 2003 , Burns andBhella 2017 ).Most of the time their task is reduced to being the cause of a terrible disease that puts the pr ota gonists in trouble or even kills them.
Although in natur e, micr obes do m uc h mor e good than harm, this aspect is r ar el y r epr esented on the scr een.Something logical if we think that cinema is an art and as such appeals to the emotions, so the depiction of the suffering of an infectious disease ar ouses man y mor e feelings than the oper ation of a bior eactor for penicillin production.We must not forget that a movie is an artistic r ecr eation of r eality, not the r eal world.With the exception of documentary cinema, commercial movies do not need to be scientificall y pr ecise.Ne v ertheless, some film pr oductions, speciall y the most recent ones, take great care in enrolling scientific advisors in order to have the most plausible and realistic scripts (Chambers 2017 ).Ho w e v er, the movies fix in the public's imagination a certain cliché of the concepts and events that are recreated on film.If we consider that our students are part of that public, it is not rare to use some famous movie sequences as an educational tool (Rose 2003, Sánchez 2011a, Baños and Bosch 2015, Berlin 2016, Schnei-der 2016 ).Of course, any educator likes to see that the subject he teaches is reflected with a certain accuracy on the big screen and that ther e ar e fe w "artistic licenses."Ho w e v er in most occasions that situation does not occur, so making a virtue out of necessity, movie goofs such as the scene from Mission: Impossible II where a flu virus infects a red blood cell, can be seen as an opportunity to explain the concept and conditions of viral host recognition to the students.
The aim of this work is to give an ov ervie w of the fascinating facets of the pathogenic micr oor ganisms depicted in entertainment movies and its use as an educational tool for the explanation of se v er al concepts-scientific, social, and historical-at differ ent educational le v els, fr om under gr aduate to gr ade students or e v en gener al public.No w ada ys , the internet, video sharing platforms, and the different streaming services provide easy access to a wide range of movies and TV series, no matter whether they are old silent black-and-white films, timeless classics, modern blockbusters, or e v en for gotten flops.So, educators ar e not limited to r el ying solel y on the most w ell kno wn or current movies to illustrate specific concepts related to infectious diseases.Ho w ever, w e m ust not for get that, when a movie is made, it typically reflects the issues and concerns of the period when it was made, not the period that is reenacted on the screen (e.g.Bergman's masterpiece, The Seventh Seal , is more about the experiences of life, such as lo ve , death, and family, rather than painting a faithful r epr esentation of the Middle Ages in Scandina via).Mo vies can be used in the classroom in tw o w ays depending on the time a vailable .T he students can watch the whole film as an external activity and then discuss its content in the class (Baños and Bosch 2015 ).Another option is to use clips of selected scenes related to the subject to be discussed in a manner similar to the "microbe minute" strategy (Feldman 2013 ).Let us see a couple of examples that have been used in educational acti vities.At min ute 19 of Dallas Buyers Club , a medical doctor (Jennifer Garner) explains to her AIDS patient (Matthew McConaughey) what is a doubled-blind clinical trial, which can be used as introduction to a class about bioethics and/or drug de v elopment.Another example is the sequence at minute 74 from the movie Panic in the streets , which can be used to explain the "One Health" concept (Sanchez 2022 ), thanks to the following dialogue: Comm unity?What comm unity?Do you think you're living in the Mid dle Ages?Anybod y that leav es her e can be in any city in the country within 10 hours .I could lea v e her e today and be in Africa tomorrow.And whatever disease I had would go with me… Then think of it when you're talking about communities!We're all in a community…the same one!It is important that the educator must watch the film beforehand and pr epar e the session to r eac h the educational objectives, for example making a questionnaire about the pathogen or the tr eatment portr ayed on the scr een, or the err ors and misconceptions found.In the first example mentioned abo ve , the character play ed b y McConaughey belie v es in the effectiv eness of quac kery treatments for AIDS, so a good exercise would be to ask the students what the a ppr opriate tr eatments would be .T hese clips can also be used in popular science activities aimed at the general public.One of the best clips for that purpose is from the animated short film Your Friend the Rat .In < 3 min, it describes how the bacteria Yersinia pestis caused the 1347 bubonic plague pandemic known as "The Black Death" thanks to the role as a vector of the flea ( Xenopsylla cheopis ) that transmitted the bacteria to the blac k r at ( Rattus rattus ) causing its death, so the flea m ust searc h for another host, the humans.
This r e vie w has been or ganized in thr ee major sections .T he first one is dedicated to the real infectious diseases that have been r epr esented on the screen.Commercial movies are better known to the general public than documentaries, so they could be used to explain the symptoms of the illness but also other humanistic aspects such as the care of the sick or the impact of the disease in a particular historical moment or in the actual society.The second section is dedicated to the movies where the pr ota gonists ar e the scientists and medical doctors who fight against those diseases.In this case, the main concepts to be explained are the scientific methods and the biocontainment measures, but also the evolution of the stereotype of the scientist, from the solitary, dedicated hero of the 1930s to today's interdependent groups of highly tec hnical r esearc hers.Finall y, the last part deals with the films in whic h micr obes mana ge to defeat humanity, cr eating a dystopian world.T hose mo vies are w ell kno wn b y the general public and can be used to explain k e y conce pts in e pidemiology and disease transmission but also how to deal with extreme stressful situations (Kendal 2021 ).

Diseases
Gr egorio Mar añón stated that illness is a part of "the dramatic side of life," and in fact the r epr esentation of illnesses is constant in the history of arts.Pr obabl y, the first pictorial illustr ation of an infectious disease is the famous Egyptian stele from the 18th Dynasty that r epr esents a person with polio (Fr ont de Mor a 2015 ).Bocaccio's Decameron was conceived after the plague epidemic of 1348.The Black Death was also the inspiration of the allegorical Dance of Death, or Danse Macabre , a disease that affects the rich and the poor alike, in all the historical periods.Syphilis is r eferr ed in Cervante's Don Quixote as "morbo gálico , " and tuberculosis plays a k e y role in a number of operas such as V erdi' s La Traviata and Puccini's La Bohème .Ho w e v er, it is undoubtedl y in cinematogr a phy that in-fectious diseases have been most often r epr esented, not onl y in numbers but also in v ariety.Although ther e ar e > 200 infectious diseases described in humans, along with around a hundred that impact animals or plants, not all of these diseases have been depicted in commercial mo vies .In the forthcoming section, the films selected portray the symptoms of the disease accurately, in addition to highlighting other aspects such as its social or historical impact or the medical treatment applied, with a view to use it as a teaching tool.Table 1 included a more detailed list of movies related to infectious diseases.

Philadelphia
Dir ector: J onathan Demme (1993) In 1993, Jonathan Demme's film Philadelphia marked a turning point in the way society viewed and treated people with AIDS (Aijón 2005 ).At that time, antir etr ovir al ther a p y w as in its early stages and only managed to delay the inevitable, so the viewer becomes a witness to the gradual physical deterioration of the character play ed b y Tom Hanks.Ho w e v er Demme shows the decay in a way that is neither lurid nor sensationalist, but with great care and respect, as exemplified by the trial sequence, in which the effects of the Kaposi's sarcoma on Hank's body are seen as a reflex in a mirror.At the same time, the lawy er play ed b y Denzel Washington undergoes a moral transformation, culminating in the famous libr ary sequence, wher e he becomes awar e of what it means to be discriminated against not by race, but by a disease.Philadelphia helped change the society's view of people with AIDS and opened the door for more movies to address STDs.In fact, a search for "AIDS" in the k e yw or ds section of IMDB yields > 600 titles, with the earliest one from 1985.In contrast, a search for "tuberculosis" yields little > 200 titles, with the earliest from 1910.

Anthrax
The Power of the Dog Dir ector: J ane Campion (2021) Early in the film, a group of co wbo ys is seen driving cattle tow ar d a village, and in the distance, the bloated carcass of a cow is visible .T heir leader, Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch), warns the other co wbo ys to k ee p the cattle a wa y, explaining that the cow died fr om anthr ax, a disease caused by Bacillus anthracis .Campion uses the "Chekhov's gun" dr amatic r esource to introduce this animal disease in the plot.Later on, a feud de v elops between Phil and his nephew Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee).Peter, who is studying medicine, harbors a unique plan to kill his uncle.He found the carcass of a cow that has died of anthrax, so it contains spores of the bacteria.With his gloved hands and the help of a scalpel, he takes part of the hides .T he occasion arises when Phil is plating a lasso with rawhide and Peter notices that he has a wound on his hand.So he passes him the hides of the infected animal.The next day, Phil wakes up fe v erish, dizzy, and with swollen, blackened hand.A doctor is called but nothing can be done to save him.

Cholera
The Painted Veil Dir ector: J ohn Curran (2006) The Painted Veil is a 1925 novel written by William Somerset Maugham, which has been adapted for the cinema on se v er al occasions, this last one being the most faithful to the original story.Edw ar d Norton plays a British doctor in early 20th-century China fighting a c holer a outbr eak in a place where medical resources It should be noted that some movies can be placed in more than one category.In the case of some TV series, the season (S) and episodes (E) are indicated, if needed.
are limited and drastic public health measures should be implemented (Cross 2007 , Han andCurtis 2020 ).A particularly impactful sequence in the film takes us on a visit to a rural hospital, r e v ealing the harsh reality of confr onting suc h a de v astating disease .T he camera captures that the afflicted individuals lie on a plank with a central hole for the evacuation of the "rice-water" diarrhea.The film also outlines the mechanisms of disease transmission through contaminated water and illustrates the public health interventions taken to address the outbreak.An interesting aspect is the exploration of the tension between cultural traditions and the need for pr e v entiv e measur es .T his clash is typically r esolv ed thr ough pr ompt and pr a gmatic actions.

COVID-19
The Good Doctor Creator: David Shore ( 2017) Different movies and television series were the first to reflect the Covid-19 pandemic (Cambra-Badii 2022 , Pappas 2023 ).Interestingly, the start of The Good Doctor 's fourth season sho w ed the initial moments of the outbreak, when the symptoms of the disease were still not very well defined and many patients were misdiagnosed with flu.After that we see the r av a ges of the epidemic, the countless problems due to the shortage of resources, the development of the new hospital protocols to manage the disease, and of course the numerous death of patients and also the psychological burden caused on the medical staff.

Diphtheria Togo
Director: Ericson Core (2019) In January 1925, Dr Curtis Welch reported that there was an outbreak of infantile diphtheria in the Alaskan town of Nome, with 20 confirmed cases and another 50 suspected cases.Weather conditions pr e v ented the shipment of anti-diphtheria serum by air, so it was decided that an attempt would be made to bring in the serum using a r elay r ace on dog sleds.A nine-kilogram package containing 300 000 units (about 500 doses) of anti-diphtheria serum would be taken from Sew ar d to the town of Nenana by rail, and from ther e r elays would carry it to Nome .T he distance between Nenana and Nome is 1085 km and was cov er ed by se v er al teams in onl y 5 days and 7 h through a blizzard that r eac hed −31 • C. The feat was incredible because under normal conditions it would take 15 days to complete.A total of 150 dogs and 20 "mushers" who drove the sleds took part.Although the death of five children was regretted, 300 000 units that arrived in Nome made it possible to control the outbreak until the rest of the anti-diphtheria serum arrived in mid-February.

Ebola 93 Days
Dir ector: Stev e Gukas (2016) On 25 March 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported an Ebola virus outbreak in Guinea, impacting multiple populations and raising concerns about its potential spread to other African nations.By May, the virus had r eac hed Conakry, and in Jul y, Fr eetown became affected.On 20 July 2014, an infected Liberian diplomat arrived in Lagos , Nigeria.T hrough the dedicated efforts of the healthcare team at the First Consultant Medical Center, the outbreak was successfully contained, preventing its dissemination in a city with a population of 20 million (Shuaib et al. 2014 ).The central figure in this narrative is Dr Ameyo Adade-v oh, portray ed b y actr ess Bimbo Akintola.Dr Adade voh's critical role lay in her early suspicion that the patient's symptoms indicated Ebola.She pr omptl y order ed his isolation pending test r esults, e v en at the risk of potential diplomatic tensions.Concurr entl y, she instructed the medical staff on implementing pr e v entiv e measur es , despite the inadequate a v ailability of personal pr otective equipment (PPE) for such a situation.The Nigerian government alerted the WHO and imposed the confinement of all healthcare workers who had interacted with the infected individual.While popular belief often associates Ebola with extensive hemorrhaging, the film sheds light on the fact that many victims succumb to organ failure, particularly of the kidneys or liver.All individuals who had contact with the healthcare workers were closel y monitor ed, with a r equir ement to under go a 21-day quarantine.Ultimatel y, Nigeria r ecorded 20 cases of Ebola, r esulting in 8 fatalities, including se v er al among those who had treated the infected Liberian diplomat, including Dr Adadevoh herself.

Hud
Director: Martin Ritt (1963) P aul Ne wman plays Hud, a quarr elsome and egocentric cattle r anc her.His cattle contr act foot-and-mouth disease and are quarantined pending test results.Upon confirmation, all the cattle must be culled.The cattle-slaughter scene is very famous.It was supervised by the Humane Society, so no animal was hurt.Patricia Neal won the Oscar for her melancholic performance.It was due to a personal tr a gedy as she had tr a gicall y lost her daughter to encephalitis caused by measles.Her husband at that time was Roahl Dahl, who in 1986 wrote a letter detailing this personal tr a gedy while encour a ging people to get vaccinated (Dahl 1986 ).

Flu
The Stand Director: Mick Garris (1994) The most de v astating pandemic e v er suffer ed b y mankind w as the influenza of 1918-1920.It is estimated that there were 500 million cases and caused between 17 and 100 million deaths (Taubenberger 2006 ).Stephen King was inspired by this pandemic to write his novel The Stand .Published in its definitive form in 1990, it was not long before being adapted into a 6-h television series.In The Stand , a flu virus is genetically engineered to serve as a bio w eapon.Named Captain Trips, this virus wreaks havoc by wiping out a 99.99% of humanity.Its transmission occurs both through fomites and through airborne particles , rendering con ventional protective measures and vaccination ineffective.Within 2 weeks, the virus spr eads globall y, leading to the colla pse of social and healthcar e systems.Deaths are not solely attributable to the disease itself but are exacerbated by the resulting societal breakdown.The few remaining survivors will try to rebuild civilization.
While the notion of an ultimate biological weapon that kills everyone might appear clichéd, the underlying truth may be more unsettling.At the height of the Cold War, many scientists wondered about the probability of self-destruction and determined that ther e wer e two critical par ameters: the number of people capable of destroying the planet and the likelihood that they will do so.The use of atomic bombs was limited by their complexity and cost, yet biotechnology's accessibility and affordability hav e c hanged this (Sotos 2019 ).While biotec hnology holds the potential to address diseases, it also harbors the capability to produce new biological weapons with no known remedies.

Il mestiere delle armi (The Profession of Arms)
Director: Ermanno Olmi (2001) Gangr ene a ppears in countless w ar-themed films.F r om the stenc h of mature cheese as in Saving Private Ryan , or a surgeon amputating an infected limb from a poor wretch pleading not to lose it as shown in Gone with the Wind .There are times when medical intervention can save the patient as happens with Naomi Watts in The Impossible .Ho w e v er, mor e often than not, cinema depicts the dire fate of those who suffer from wound infections, such as Khal Dr ogo's c har acter in the Game of Thrones .The beautifull y cr afted Italian movie Il mestiere delle armi tells the story of the final days of the famous condottiero Giovanni de' Medici, who fought during the 16th century Italian wars.In 1526, he suffered a leg injury from a cannon shot.He was treated by his personal physician, the Je w Abr amo Arié, who a pplied the knowledge of the time, suc h as washing the wound with ointments and a ppl ying leec hes to eliminate the inflammation (Vesalius' anatomy was still 17 years a wa y).T hey also placed roses on the headboard to give fragrance and disguise the stench.As the infection worsened, a decision was made on the third day to amputate the leg.Inter estingl y, we saw how Abramo heats the knives and saws over a flame, pr esumabl y to quic kl y cauterize the w ound.Accor ding to witnesses , Gio vanni de Medici himself refused to be immobilized and in the absence of adequate lighting, he held with his own hands the candelabra that illuminated the operation.Ho w ever, the infection w as already widespread and Giovanni passed a wa y two days later.

Gonorrhea
La vida alegre (The Joyful Life) Director: Fernando Colomo (1987) The story r e volv es ar ound a young female doctor who oversees a welfare center situated in the heart of a Madrid slum.The center's primary aim is to provide advice and treatment to prostitutes and drug addicts r egarding sexuall y tr ansmitted diseases.Meanwhile, her husband, an ambitious and rising politician, views the center as a political adv anta ge for his career.Ho w ever, the doctor feels a sense of duty to safeguard public health and must navigate not only the distrust of those she's assisting but also the numerous political hurdles.Additionally, she must confront a marital crisis triggered by her husband's promiscuity.With such a plot, one would expect a social drama, but instead we find a scr e wball comedy.From a microbiological perspective, the film offers a brief ov ervie w of v arious sexuall y tr ansmitted diseases, including gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, AIDS, and more.It also illustrates the chain of contagion and the repercussions of disregarding precautions when engaging in promiscuous behavior.Interestingly, despite its release in 1987, the film bar el y touc hes on the topic of AIDS, a disease considered at that time as a "silent epidemic" marked by stigma.

Molokai: The story of Father Damien
Director: Paul Cox (1999) Based on the biogr a phy of the Father Damien written by Hilde Eynikel, this film was shot on the island of Molokai, where leprosy patients who were interned there still reside today.In fact, many of them acted in the film.Father Damien arrived on the island in 1873, the same year that Gerhard Hansen described leprosy as being caused by a bacterium now known as Mycobacterium leprae .At that time, it was thought that leprosy was a form of syphilis .T he mo vie vividl y portr ays the a ppalling conditions of the lazar etto wher e all the lepers were confined.The film also depicts the pr ogr ession of the disease of Father Damien until his death.While the treatment of leprosy with dapsone was established in the 1950s and later impr ov ed with the antibiotics clofazimine and rifampicin, Molokai's isolation laws remained in effect until 1969.Despite being cured, the internees decided to contin ue li ving on Molokai out of fear of being stigmatized due to the scars left by the disease.

Malaria
The African Queen Dir ector: J ohn Huston (1951) Malaria is a common theme in movies set in the jungle, such as The Bridge on the River Kwai , The Wages of Fear , Mountains of the Moon , etc.In C .S .For ester's nov el, The African Queen , Rose and Charlie are affected by malaria due to the bites of mosquitoes during the crossing of the Bora River Delta, and describe its conditions as follo w.Every morning the y were prostrated by it, almost simultaneously.Their heads ached, and they felt a dull coldness creeping over them, and their teeth began to chatter, until they were helpless in the paroxysm, their faces drawn and lined and their finger-nails blue with cold .They survive by treated themselves with quinine.In this John Huston's master piece, the fe v er onl y struc k Charlie and Rose comforts him.The shooting of the film was made in Africa and during the production, Bogart and Huston were the only members of the cast and cr e w who esca ped illness .T hey attributed their immunity to consuming whisk e y on location instead of the local water.

Measles
The Citadel Director: King Vidor (1938) The Citadel is the most famous work of the physician and writer A.C. Cr onin.It r ecounts his personal experiences as a doctor serving the miners of a Welsh village and even summarized his findings on the relationship between silicosis and tuberculosis .T he main c har acter is Dr Manson, an altruistic idealist dedicated body and soul to impr ov e the sanitary conditions.Shortl y after its publication, it was adapted by King Vidor, albeit with fundamental plot alterations .T he book not only touches upon tuberculosis but also deal with two other microbiological topics.One is the expeditious way in which Dr Manson stops an outbreak of typhoid fe v ers caused by the leakage of fecal water into the drinking supply.The other pertains to childhood measles.In a specific scene, Manson visits a house to examine a child recovering from measles and discovers that his brother, although asymptomatic, has attended sc hool.He pr omptl y heads to the sc hool, ur ging the c hild's r eturn home to pr e v ent an outbr eak.Ho w e v er, the teac her r efuses as it would mean forfeiting the free glass of milk provided to the children.

Virus
Director: Aashiq Abu (2019) In May 2018, an outbreak of the Nipah virus occurred in the Indian state of K er ala (Ajith Kumar and Anoop Kumar 2018 ).The outbreak impacted 19 individuals and initiated when a patient was brought to the emergency department at the University Hospital in the city of K ozhikode .T his patient exhibited symptoms including febrile illness, shortness of breath, vomiting, and con vulsions .Initially, the condition was suspected to be dengue or rabies, but a subsequent molecular diagnosis confirmed Nipah virus infection.Following this confirmation, strict usage of PPE became standard practice, alongside quarantine measures and contact tracing efforts.A series of meetings with policymakers ensued, aiming to determine whether the outbreak's origin was natural or if there was a potential connection to intentional bioterrorist activities.Alongside this investigation, public health measures were implemented to address the situation.Efforts were made to inform the public and mitigate panic, with a particular emphasis on advising against consuming fruit that might have been exposed to bites from fruit bats, which are the natural reservoir of the virus.In light of contact tracing, a quarantine involving 2000 people was implemented across the Kozhikode and Malappuram districts.While some patients were administered the monoclonal antibody M 102.4 as part of their tr eatment, onl y two patients were able to r ecov er, while the others succumbed to the virus .T he outbreak was officially declared to be over on 10 June 2018.

Plague
La Peste (The Plague) Creators: Rafael Cobos and Alberto Rodríguez (2018) The pla gue outbr eaks that swept acr oss Eur ope fr om the 14th to the 17th century, have been extensively treated in the literature, and so, also in the mo vies .Plague was an "egalitarian" disease that struck both the rich and the poor, throughout different historical periods.One of the most notable examples is Edgar Allan Poe's The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy , which has been adapted on se v er al occasions, with Die Pest in Florenz (1919) and The Masque of the Red Death (1966) being the more famous adaptations.Other note worthy r epr esentations about the pla gue in past times ar e I promessi sposi (1922), The Sevent Seal (1957), Flesh andBlood (1985), World Without End (2012), and The Physician (2013).Many of these films consistently include anachronisms, and one of the most famous examples can be found in The Seventh Seal , set in 13th century Sweden, e v en though the Blac k Death did not r eac h Eur ope until the mid-14th century.The Spanish TV series La Peste also features similar errors, along with an overuse of clichés such as the evil inquisitor.Ho w ever, it is worth watching due to its quality and historical bac kdr op.The series tr ansports us to Se ville in 1597, although in reality, the actual outbreak occurred in 1649, resulting in the deaths of 60 000 people (45% of its population).One of the most haunting and somber scenes unfolds within the confines of an unsanitary hospital, where a "plague doctor" navigates among patients.While the sequence is undeniably eerie, it is historically inaccurate, as this costume was actually invented by the Fr enc hman Charles de Lorme in 1620.Another mistake pertains to the c har acter of physician Nicolas Monardes, who lived between 1493 and 1588 and was a pioneering figure in botany.He was renowned acr oss Eur ope for his work "Historia medicinal de las cosas que se traen de nuestras Indias Occidentales ," with its first volume dating back to 1560.Contrary to the series portray al, he w as never prosecuted by the Spanish Inquisition.

Polio Breathe
Director: Andy Serkis (2017) This biopic tells the history of Robert Cavendish, who contracted polio at age 28.The disease paralyzed him from the neck down, so he needed a mechanical respirator to breathe, making him a "r esponaut."Initiall y, he was depressed by his condition, but fortunately his quality of life was impr ov ed, thanks to the help of his wife Diane, family, and friends .One of the impro vements was the design and construction of a wheelchair with a built-in respirator that allo w ed Robert to tr av el a wa y from home .He starts to campaign for the impr ov ement of the quality of life of disabled people.

Cujo
Director: Lewis Teague (1983) Bats are a natural reservoir for the rabies virus.In 2021, there were five cases of human rabies in the USA due to bat bites.Typically, this occurs when people try to catch bats, prompting defensive reactions.In this film, an unvaccinated St. Bernard dog contracts rabies after being bitten by a bat, becoming a killer.The movie follows genre norms with tense scenes, calculated scares, violent deaths, and a climactic sho wdo wn.During production, six different dogs, including a Rottw eiler, w ere used, along with a robotic head and disguised human for certain shots.Inter estingl y, the dogs enjo y ed the filming, w agging their tails, so they had to tie their tails to their bodies.To film the scene of the car attack, a simple trick was employed: hiding dog toys within the vehicle and instructing the dog to "F etch!".T he foam and thick saliva around the dog's mouth was made using egg white and sugar, a treat for the dogs.

Little Women
Director: Mervyn LeRoy (1949) Louisa May Alcott's famous semi-autobiogr a phical nov el condenses her experiences ov er se v er al years during the American Civil War and part of the post-war era.According to se v er al literary critics, Louisa May Alcott's is considered one of the first feminist writers, as she portraits how a young woman, like the c har acter Jo, strives to establish herself as a writer and attain economic independence.Little Women has been adapted to film numerous times, with the 1933, 1949, and 1994 versions being the most well known.One of the most famous parts involves the character Beth falling ill with scarlet fe v er after assisting a German immigrant family in need of help with their children.In those times, it was understood that surviving scarlet fe v er gr anted imm unity, and thus , Meg and J o take on the task of caring for her.Little Amy, ho w e v er, is sent to her aunt's house to avoid contagion.Though Beth initiall y ov ercomes the crisis , her health declines o ver the course of 2 years until she ultimately passes a wa y.Louisa Ma y Alcott dr e w inspir ation fr om her own sister Elizabeth's experience.On her deathbed, she asked for ether to ease her pains.Ho w e v er, in the film adaptation, Beth's death is portrayed in a more softened manner as it seems that she simply sleeps after having a conversation with her sister.

Bef or e Tomorr ow
Directors: Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu (2008) This is the first film made by a collective of Inuit women, all the actors are Inuit and, of course, it is filmed in the Inuit language with accompanying subtitles .T he story is set circa 1840 somewhere in the Arctic Circle.Amid the summer season, a pair of Inuit clans convene for trade, fishing to amass provisions for the impending winter, and jubilantly commemorating a union in marriage.During the evenings, they share tales and gossip.Among their discussions is the r e v elation that they hav e encounter ed individuals from afar who arrived in a "big canoe without paddles."These str angers enga ged in commercial tr ansactions, yet unbeknownst to them, they also introduced smallpox.The theme of how an imported disease can wipe out an indigenous population appears in other films (e .g. Medicine Man , 1992).T he originality of this film lies in its internal perspectiv e, r ecounting the e v ents from within the community itself.The character of the grandmother vividly conveys the enormity of the loss, not only of human lives but also of all the traditions and culture that these clans r epr esented.

Syphilis
The English Creator: Hugo Blick (2022) Until the end of the 20th century, STDs were rarely mentioned in films.Even a director like John Huston shied away from referencing Toulouse-Lautrec's syphilis in his 1952 film Moulin Rouge .Only the master Kurosawa showed in The Quiet Duel the shame and stigma suffered by those who suffer from a disease that generates a deep social rejection.After the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, the taboo on STDs began to be lifted and the gruesome burdens of those diseases wer e r epr esented on the screen without hesitation.Some examples are Miss Evers' Boys , Dangerous Liaisons , The Libertine , and The Knick .This recent TV-series depicts very vividly the symptoms and disfigurement caused by Treponema pallidum infection in the secondary and tertiary phases of the syphilis, and also the effects of congenital syphilis.

Tetanus T he Childr en of Huang Shi
Director: Roger Spottiswoode (2008) This melodrama is based on the real-life account of journalist George Hogg.In 1938, he arrived in Shanghai and embarked on humanitarian endeavors amidst the bac kdr op of the Sino-Japanese war.By 1944, he was in c har ge of an or phana ge in Huang Shi, accommodating 60 c hildr en.Faced with the mandatory conscription from the Chinese Army, Hogg orc hestr ated a daring escape to Lanzhou, tr av eling a 700-km journey on foot through mountainous and snow-cov er ed terr ain.Fr om ther e they wer e taken by truck to the city of Shandan where they established the new or phana ge.A fe w months later, while playing a basketball game with his pupils, Hogg cut his toe.The wound became infected and he began to de v elop tetanus.Desper ate to secur e tetanus serum, two of the boys embarked on a 500-km motor c ycle journey, but by the time they returned, Hogg had died.In the mo vie , the screenwriters opted for a more dramatic portra yal.Here , Hogg sustains a wound on his hand amidst the desert, gr a ppling with a sand tornado while endeavoring to repair one of the trucks.

Typhoid fever
The Knick Dir ector: Stev en Soderbergh (2014) We now live in a time of endless possibility.More has been learned about the treatment of the human body in the last 5 years than was learned in the pr e vious 500.Twenty years ago, 39 was the number of years a man could expect from his life .Toda y, it is more than 47.This speech is featured in the first episode of a TVseries created by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler.Their inspiration was dr awn fr om the history of Knic kerboc ker Hospital in 1900s' New York-a world marked by backwardness and inequality, yet on the v er ge of r a pid tr ansformation thr ough tec hnology and science.Electricity is the latest tec hnological adv ance, sur gical tec hniques are being developed, aseptic procedures such as the use of carbolic nebulizers , ha ve just been implemented and infectious diseases are one of the main causes of mortality.One of the plots is the control of the outbreak of typhoid fever that was caused by Mary Mallon, better known as "Typhoid Mary" (Marineli et al. 2013 ).Other infectious diseases such as tuberculosis , syphilis , infantile meningitis , plague , septicemia, etc. also appear.T he series had the supervision of Dr Stanley Burns, founder of the Burns Arc hiv e of Historical Medical Photogr a phs.Although it is fiction, some of its pr ota gonists ar e based on historical c har acters.For example, Clive Owen gives life to Dr John W. Thackery, who is a transcript of Dr William Stewart Halsted, the famous surgeon who founded John Hopkins Hospital and who, a part fr om de v eloping the sur gical tec hnique of r adical mastectom y, was also ad dicted to cocaine and morphine.

Moulin Rouge!
Director: Baz Luhrmann ( 2001) If there is a love triangle c har acteristic of the 19th century, it is the one formed by the young bourgeois, the pretty girl and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Day 2017 ).This romantic trio appeared for the first time in the play The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas published in 1848.It was later adapted to opera by Verdi ( La Traviata ), but the bohemian touch was given by Puccini in his work La Boheme .Logically, the story has also been made into a film on numerous occasions, "Moulin Rouge! " being one of the most recent.Although one already knows how the story is going to end, the truth is that the film manages to catch you, either by its aesthetics , its performers , or its soundtr ac k.In the course of the film, we see how the beautiful Satine (Nicole Kidman) is slowly wasting a wa y due to tuberculosis .T he symptoms are clear: pallor, cough, hemoptysis, fainting, and above all, dyspnea.Although the name of the disease is ne v er mentioned, her beloved Cristian (Ewan Mc-Gregor) describes it in the following words: a force darker than jealousy and stronger than love had begun to take hold of Satine .

Scientists
It is paradoxical that cinematogr a phy is an art that exists, thanks to scientific and technological progress, and at the same time the relationship between cinema and science is not easy.A scientist tries to understand the universe, a filmmaker tries to express his vision of the universe.One might expect that the character of scientists in movies would always be treated under a positive light, but that has not been the case, e v en fr om their origins .T he archetype of the "mad scientist" capable of destroying the world was born in 1927 with Fritz Lang's Metropolis .Something similar happens with the character of the microbiologist.Initially, the pioneers of microbiology knowing as the "microbe hunters," were solitary heroes .T hey e v en fight the diseases in the harsh conditions of de v eloping countries.Ho w e v er, little by little, the c har acter changed and the "mad microbiologist," capable of destroying life on the Earth, thanks to biological wea pons, also a ppear ed.At the same time, it was evident that science advances were made by teams of scientist, not by solitary figures.In the 1953 classic The War of the Worlds , a multidisciplinary group of researchers are assembled in order to cope with an alien invasion.If we consider that an infectious disease outbreak is one of the worst menaces, it is not surprise that the best way to deal with that is to gather a group of heroic epidemiologists, as we can see in movies like Outbreak and Contagion (Lynteris 2016 ).This section discusses six films that best r epr esent the work of micr obiologists and show the e volution from the "lone hero" to the "multidisciplinary team."Table 2 lists other movies that are related to scientist work.

Arrowsmith
Dir ector: J ohn Ford (1931) In the 1930s, the emergence of sound films coincided with the researc h and de v elopment of the first substances with antimicrobial properties .At that time , thanks to Paul de Kruif's Microbe Hunters , infectious diseases were seen as a threat that science could defeat, and so, se v er al biopics dedicated to the fathers of micr obiology such as The Story of Louis Pasteur , Robert Koch: The Battle Against Death , and Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet were made (Kirby 2013 ).Howe v er, the distinction of having the first microbiologist portrayed on the big screen goes to a fictional character.The best-selling novel Arrowsmith , written by Sinclair Lewis, was adapted for the screen by John Ford in 1931.It ac hie v ed significant acclaim from both critics and audiences, receiving four Oscar nominations, including the Best Picture .T he film addresses various issues pertinent to scientific vocation, such as the pressure to make groundbreaking discoveries and publish scientific papers (the w ell-kno wn "publish or perish" mentality).It also deals into the disillusionment that comes with discovering that other r esearc hers hav e pr eceded you in y our w ork, the challenges of securing funding for r esearc h, the pr e v alence of sensationalized science in the media, ethical dilemmas surrounding clinical trials involving human subjects, and the personal sacrifices one makes in the pursuit of scientific passion (Gar cía-Sánchez and Gar cía-Sánchez 2005 ).Naturally, microbiology plays a prominent role throughout the film.Arrowsmith grapples with infantile diphtheria, embarks on the de v elopment of a serum for symptomatic anthrax caused by Clostridium chauvoei , engages in the exploration of bacteriophages, and experiences disappointment upon realizing that Felix d'Herelle has beaten him to the disco very.T he film's "final a potheosis" centers ar ound his battle against an outbreak of bubonic plague on a Caribbean island, alongside his efforts to design a clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of his phage therapy.While it may appear somewhat naive and antiquated by today's standards, there are many aspects in which this movie r emains r ele v ant.In fact, it effectiv el y ca ptur es the essence of pursuing a scientific career as a means of livelihood.

The Nun's Story
Dir ector: Fr ed Zinnemann (1959) The "missionary scientist" film stereotype could be defined as a medical doctor or a scientist who goes to a de v eloping country to combat infectious diseases .T her e ar e se v er al examples, suc h as the c har acters play ed b y Rock Hudson in The Spiral Road and P atric k Swayze in the City of J oy .Howe v er, one of the best is the Sister Luke played by Audrey Hepburn in The Nun's Story .In 1956, writer Kathryn Hulme published a novel based on the biography of her friend Marie Louise Habets.Dir ector Fr ed Zinnemann acquired the rights to adapt it into a film and cast Audrey Hepburn in the lead role.Hepburn dedicated time to immerse herself in v arious conv ents and master the use of a microscope in order to bring the c har acter of Sister Luke to life.She also had the opportunity to meet and befriend Marie Louise Habets.Notabl y, Audr ey Hepburn's portrayal of Sister Luke is very likely to be the first fe-male micr obiologist e v er played on film.Muc h of the narr ativ e is set in the former Belgian Congo, where Sister Luke aspires to carry out her missionary w ork.Ho w e v er, befor e she can fulfill her mission, she m ust under go tr aining as a nurse at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp.During this phase, we observe Sister Luke learning to perform mycobacterial stains to identify and distinguish between Koch's bacillus and Hansen's bacillus.At one point, she imparts to a classmate that they ar e v ery alike.Both r od-sha ped, both acid-fast, both with a slight shadow almost like an enclosing capsule.Ho w ever, if y ou look v ery closel y you will see that the leprosy bacillus is slightly fatter and longer, a factual distinction (5 microns versus 8).In another scene, Sister Luke undergoes an oral parasitology examination where she is questioned about the trypanosome causing sleeping sickness and the clinical manifestations of malaria.Subsequently, her journe y tak es her to a le per colony situated in the jungle .T his particular sequence was filmed in an authentic lazar etto, pr oviding a glimpse of real patients gr a ppling with the lingering effects of the disease.

T he Andr omeda Strain
Director: Robert Wise (1971) The Andromeda Strain is the film adaptation of Michael Crichton's 1969 novel of the same name.Directed by Robert Wise, this techno-thriller follows a team of scientists as they work to identify and control an extraterrestrial pathogenic microorganism that induces se v er e blood clotting in its victims.Notabl y, the labor atory tests and equipment r epr esented wer e state-of-the-art in 1971.These included the r ecr eation of a high-le v el biosafety lab, culturing the micr oor ganism in differ ent media, sizing Andr omeda by passing contaminated air through a series of filters with increasing pore size, preparing and observing samples under an electron micr oscope, and ca pturing an X-ray diffraction image of an Andr omeda crystal (Sánc hez 2011b ).Inter estingl y, the film became embroiled in a controversy related to animal welfare, particularly concerning a scene in which a monk e y is exposed to Andromeda and falls death.In truth, no animals were harmed during filming, as Wise ensured all scenes adhered to ASPC A guidelines .For the notable sequence, the monk e y was placed in a bo x with breathable air, inside a room filled with carbon dioxide.An assistant with and autonomous r espir atory equipment and with an additional mask for the monk e y was placed off camera.When the mechanical arm opened the box, the monkey was briefly exposed to CO 2 , causing it to faint.Wise continued filming for a couple of seconds before the assistant revived the monk e y by placing the mask on.The scene was ac hie v ed in a single take.

And the Band Played On
Director: Roger Spottiswoode (1993) This TV docudrama, based on journalist Randy Shilts' book, describes the early stages of the epidemiological battle against AIDS and the scientific contr ov ersies surr ounding the discov ery of HIV.It starts in 1981 at the CDC in Atlanta, where Don Francis and Jim Curran initiate an investigation into an unusual outbreak of diseases affecting homosexuals in San Francisco and Los Angeles, caused by opportunistic pathogens like Pneumocystis carinii (then mistaken for a pr otozoan).Thr ough diligent detectiv e work, they determine that the mysterious disease is caused by a sexually and blood-transmitted virus .T he film also portra ys the heated dispute between Luc Montagnier and Robert Gallo's groups over who was the first to discover the virus.Despite its merits, the film contains notable flaws due to its creation before a clear understanding of  (Sharp 2011 ).In hindsight, we no w kno w this notion is misguided, as the disease actually originated in Africa in the early 20th century and emerged in 1981 due to its impact on the first-world population.While additional funding might have reduced casualties and enabled earlier prevention campaigns, it would not hav e alter ed the course of the disease's global spread.

Outbreak
Director: Wolfgang Petersen (1995) This film so full of errors that make it amusing to dissect.Let us start with the first major biological mistake: ca puc hin monk e ys are not found in Africa; they inhabit the jungles of Central America.Despite its fla ws , the film has its merits .It opens with a haunting phrase from Nobel laureate Joshua Lederberg: The single biggest threat to humanity's continued dominance on the planet is the virus .The plot is engaging and deals with various epidemiological issues.One such theme is the emergence of new diseases fr om pr e viousl y inaccessible parts of the world.It also explores the spread of zoonoses through illegal animal tr affic king.Additionall y, it r aises concerns about the de v elopment of biological weapons that can ev olve bey ond control and lack an antidote .T he film inter estingl y outlines the scientists' discussions on transmission chains, methods of virus spread, and quarantine measures to halt conta gion.P articularl y notable is the scene in the movie theater where one of the infected coughs and generates an aerosol formed by droplets full of virus .T hrough a zoom, we see how these dr oplets spr ead to the other spectators .T he Motaba virus is a typical "movie virus" that kills in < 48 h with 100% mortality and causes horrible symptoms to anyone infected.Similar to Panic in the Streets , r esearc hers m ust r ace a gainst time to find a remedy and pr e v ent the pathogen's spr ead.Calculating the antibody concentration of an antiviral serum for 2700 people obtained from the blood of a single ca puc hin monk e y, is a c hallenge that I leav e to the reader.

Contagion
Dir ector: Stev en Soderbergh (2011) It is likely that this is one of the most-watched movies during lockdown.Released in 2011, it passed through screens without much attention.Ho w e v er, it has become famous after the COVID-19 pandemic.Screenwriter Scott Z. Burns and director Steven Soderber gh decided fr om the outset that it had to be realistic and not sensational.They sought advice from Lawrence Brilliant and Ian Lipkin and dr e w fr om the SARS epidemic of 2002-4 to r ecr eate a possible scenario and design the MEV-1 virus as a fusion of two paramyxoviruses: the Nipah virus and a porcine rubula virus .T he idea was for the virus to have high lethality like Nipah, and at the same time be highly contagious like the rubulavirus that causes m umps.Soderber gh cr afted this film in a style similar to what he did pr e viousl y in Traffic and the drug world.He intertwines a series of parallel stories whose common thread is the epidemic.We encounter regular people, doctors striving to combat the epidemic, scientists attempting to figure out how to de v elop a v accine, politicians making decisions that will impact millions of people, and e v en c harlatans trying to exploit others' suffering.It is trul y astonishing how m uc h this 2011 film foreshadowed various situations we have recently experienced: lockdo wns, hoar ding of supplies, social distancing, and the r ace to find a v accine.In contr ast to other movies where crises are resolved within da ys , here it is de-picted that the scientific process is slow, painstaking, and meticulous , spanning months .T his pr ogr ess r elies on both gov ernment support and pharmaceutical companies.Two k e y aspects of this film have been studied with more detail.The first one is the public distrust on the actions taken by the public health officials such as quarantines and lockdowns (Han and Curtis 2020 ).The second is the paradox that the pr o-v accination and pro-science tone of the movie could have create an over-simplification of a complex problem and even encourage vaccine hesitancy during the actual SARS-CoV2 pandemic (McGuire 2021 ).

Biotechnological fears
Mary Shelle y's "Frank enstein" and H.G. Wells' "The Island of Doctor Mour eau" ar e the origin of a plot of many science fiction mo vies .A scientist manipulates biology to create something that at first seems beneficial but then has unintended consequences.Knowledge about pathogenic micr oor ganisms allows us to dev elop mor e effectiv e ther a pies a gainst them, but it also allows the de v elopment of biological weapons.At other times, ho w e v er, e vil occurs unintentionally.For example, the development of an experimental ther a py causes the emer gence of an epidemic that wipes out humanity.There are several films with this anti-biotechnology message, warning us that the alteration of the natural order of things , including diseases , can lead to catastrophic outcomes .T he blockbusters I Am Legend and Rise of the Planet of the A pes ar e the best examples of that.Fortunately, this cautionary message has not deterred advancements in anti-tumor therapies based on oncolytic viruses (Verma 2013 , Srivastava andRiddell 2015 ).Table 3 lists some of the movies related to these categories.

I Am Legend
Director: Danny Boyle (2002) Richard Matheson's novel I am Legend published in 1954 describes a post-a pocal yptic world that has been de v astated after a nuclear war that triggers a mosquito-borne zoonosis, in which a strain of Bacillus has wiped out 99% of humanity and transformed almost all the survivors into v ampir e cr eatur es.Robert Ne ville is the sole survivor and devotes his efforts to understanding the disease and trying to de v elop a cur e. Matheson's book has se v er al r eadings, from the anguish of human loneliness and the displacement from one cultural form to another.T he no vel has been adapted into a film four times, the most recent being this one starring Will Smith.In this version, a genetically modified measles virus intended as a cancer ther a py triggers the pandemic that transforms humans into sentient zombie-like cr eatur es.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Director: Rupert Wyatt (2011) In 1968, the science fiction masterpiece titled Planet of the Apes was released, leaving a lasting impact.The film's success led to the creation of four sequels and even a television series, although none could quite match the brilliance of the original.Charlton Heston's iconic image before the ruins of the Statue of Liberty became a symbol of that er a. Dr awing inspir ation fr om the third film of the saga, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes , Fox decided to rejuv enate the a pe sa ga.The r esulting mo vie , Rise of the Planet of the A pes far ed well and marked the beginning of a new film series.T his time , a biotec h compan y de v elops a gr oundbr eaking therapy for Alzheimer's disease.By modifying a r etr ovirus to stim ulate brain tissue neurogenesis, they enhance cognitive abilities in apes Although the ther a py initiall y impr ov es cognitiv e functions in afflicted humans, their immune systems eventually counter the virus, negating its effects.As expected, the narr ativ e intertwines the avarice of large biotech corporations with military conspir acies.A ne w ther a peutic virus, modeled after the flu virus, is engineered to be highly aggressive and inhaled for maximum impact.While this virus significantly enhances ape cognitive abilities, it comes with unintended consequences: it spreads like the flu and results in human fatality within 48 h.When an infected human, particularly an airline pilot responsible for transcontinental flights, triggers an outbreak, the consequences are catastr ophic.The ima ge accompan ying the end cr edits a ptl y illustr ates how diseases can spread via air travel.

Zombie apocalypse
There is no doubt that the actual zombie icon is a creation of Geor ge A. Romer o.Chr onologicall y, The night of the living dead (1968) was not the first zombie mo vie , but undoubtedly is the cast of all current ones, since according to the IMDB there are 4330 titles (and rising) of mo vies , TV series , or video games, in which zombies appear in one way or another.Some examples are the aforementioned World War Z , the Resident Evil Saga , or the TV series The Walking Dead and The Last of Us .Usually, in those mo vies , mankind has been brought to the brink of extinction due to the action of a zombifying virus.For this last section, three titles have been chosen for comment as the most inter esting fr om a microbiological perspectiv e, but the r eader can find some other movies in Table 3 .The truth is that zombies are important players in the science of epidemiology."If you'r e pr epar ed for a zombie a pocal ypse, you'r e pr epar ed for a tornado, an earthquake, or other catastrophes" seems to be the motto that the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC 2023 ) uses to aware people that they should have a kit in their homes containing the essentials items to face any kind of eventuality.Likewise, the zombie pandemic is considered the "worst case" scenario for infectious diseases, so mathematical models have been developed to try to understand how it would spread and how to face such a situation efficiently.Spoiler alert, the scientific conclusion is the one advanced by Max Brooks in his book World War Z : the only way for humanity to survive is to quarantine and eliminate all those infected (Munz et al. 2009, Lofgren 2016 ).

Days Later
Director: Danny Boyle (2002) Unlike the vast majority of zombie mo vies , 28 Days Later portrays the infected as incur abl y ill individuals who hav e contr acted a virus .T heir symptomatology is clear, and they can die from lack of food or fatal organ injuries, rather than being immortal putrefied beings that do not die unless their brains are destro y ed.The film is a modern adaptation of the 1962 British sci-fi movie The Day of the Triffids , re placing carni vorous plants with zombies .Here , animal rights activists target a military facility, inadv ertentl y r eleasing a mutant form of the rabies virus known as the Rage virus.This highly contagious and virulent virus spreads through saliva and blood, entering the body thr ough m ucous membr anes, including the eye's conjunctiva, as illustrated in a striking sequence.Within a minute of infection, a person becomes a frenzied maniac with bloodshot eyes, attacking only those who remain uninfected.The film ac hie v ed significant success, follo w ed b y its sequel 28 Weeks Later , directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.In that one, the Rage virus epidemic has been brought under control by a simple method, all infected people in the British Isles have sim-ply been left to starve to death.After a deemed safe quarantine period, repopulation occurs.Ho w ever, new inhabitants encounter a survivor who happens to be an asymptomatic carrier, setting the stage for what unfolds next.Beyond the gory elements, these two productions offer scenarios that can be used to explain and discuss various scientific topics.For instance, pathogen virulence, strategies for pathogen spread in a population, animal experimentation, challenges arising from laboratory raids by activists, the concept of incubation time, and more.

The Walking Dead
Creator: F r ank Dar abont (2010) In 2003, the comic book The Walking Dead ( TWD ) was published, created by writer Robert Kirkman and illustrator Tony Moore, who contributed to the first six issues.From the seventh issue onw ar d, illustrator Charlie Adlard took over the series .T he comic was quite successful and r eceiv ed pr aise fr om Max Br ooks, the author of the best-seller World War Z .In 2010, AMC adapted the comic into a six-episode TV series directed by Frank Darabont, turning it into a cultural phenomenon.The show even inspired university courses that utilized its episodes to illustrate concepts in disciplines such as epidemiology , sociology , psychology , and history .The core idea of the series is that humans can be more dangerous than zombies in their pursuit of survival.TWD has left a lasting impact, with the last comic issue, the 193rd, published in July 2019.The TV series r eac hed c ha pter 177, whic h air ed on 20 No vember 2022.T he TWD uni verse contin ues thr ough spin-offs suc h as F ear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond , suggesting zombies will remain prominent for some time .Microbiology pla ys a pivotal role in two instances within the story.At the end of the first season, the pr ota gonists arriv e at the CDC in Atlanta, encountering virologist Edwin Jenner, who studies the virus that turns humans into zombies.Scientific accuracy is not well maintained in this episode, particularly in the way Jenner handles his experiments.A comparison with the car eful, r ealistic handling of dangerous samples in The Andromeda Strain underscores the discrepancies in episode TS-19 .The virologist in TWD processes tissue samples carelessly and manages to view the virus's triple nucleic acids under an optical microscope lacking a magnifying lens.Ho w ever, the notion that zombification is caused by a virus present in human DNA, activated upon death, is intriguing.This concept is based on the fact that 10% of our genome originates from retroviruses inserted millions of years ago.Some of these retroviral genes encode syncytins, essential for fetal implantation in the placenta (Mi et al. 2000 ).Micr obiology r ea ppears in the fourth season, wher e a swine flu outbr eak nearl y er adicates the main c har acters.Dr awing inspir ation fr om the 1918 flu pandemic and Albert Cam us' nov el The Plague , the scr eenwriters conv ey the par anoia and claustr ophobic atmosphere of those episodes.

The Last of Us
Creators: Neil Druc kmann, Cr aig Mazin (2023) In 2013, the video game The Last of Us was released.It falls under the category of "third-person" games , where pla yers control a c har acter navigating a zombie-infested world to complete a mission.Unlike other video games and mo vies , zombification in this game is caused not by a virus, but by a mutant fungus of the species Ophiocordyceps unilateralis .This fungus has crossed the species barrier to infect humans .T he fungus is neur otr opic, primaril y tar geting the host's br ain (Seppälä et al. 2008 ).Unlike traditional decomposing zombies, the infected bodies in this game undergo a transformation due to the invasion of fungal hyphae.
The video game gained such fame that HBO recently decided to adapt it into a TV series .T he introduction of the first episode is set in 1968, featuring a television interview with two scientists discussing the threat of pandemics to humans .T hey express concerns about viruses such as influenza, which can spread rapidly thr ough air r outes.While they belie v e our imm une system is equipped to handle such threats due to co-evolution with those microbial pathogens o ver time , one scientist expresses less confidence about fungal pathogens.Fungi can manipulate a host's mind through the production of psychoactive substances.Although he dismisses fungi as a threat due to their inability to survive human body temper atur e, he notes that an increase in temper atur e could prompt fungal adaptation, potentially posing a danger.While this sequence sets the stage effectively, it contains two significant inaccur acies.Firstl y, pathogenic fungi that withstand human body temper atur e suc h as Candida , Cryptococcus , and Aspergillus , alr eady exist.Secondl y, m uc h mor e important, e volution does not reason, it is a random process.

Conclusions
There is a great diversity of microbial themes represented in popular movies that can be used as educational tools not only for life science students but also for other disciplines such as arts or history studies.Although in most featured films, microbes are the harbingers of disease and desper ation, ther e ar e a fe w films that show that they can do useful things, e v en being the saviors of mankind.Also, the precise work of micr obiologists usuall y is depicted corr ectl y, especiall y in modern mo vies .Ne v ertheless, it is important that educators should be able to identify and correct the misconceptions that can be found in some films, and use them as an additional resource.It seems that these small creatures will continue to inspire screenwriters in the future.

Ac kno wledgments
The author thanks Beatrix Fahnert for her comments of the first version of the manuscript and Elena Martín-Orozco for the critical r e vie w of the manuscript.

Table 1 .
Non-exhaustive list of movies and TV-series related to diseases caused by microbial pathogens that can be used to explain different scientific and humanistic aspects.

Table 2 .
Non-exhaustive list of movies and TV-series related to microbial and epidemiological scientists.

Table 2 .
Continued One major issue is the concept of "patient zero" and the notion that AIDS could have been curtailed in 1982 with increased CDC funding

Table 3 .
Non-exhaustive list of movies and TV-series related to microbial dystopias.