2002 • E1 Aug 20, 2002 60m
Dr Philippa Uwins is currently battling a hostile international scientific community, desperately seeking funding for vital research and yet continuing to make breakthroughs in what has been called the 'Jurassic Park' of bacteria.
Working on a routine consulting project for a petrolium company, Dr Uwins stumbled across mysterious structures measuring mere millionths of a millimetre in her rock samples. When she discovered the structures were not mineral, but biological, her nanobes became instant media celebrities.
Is Dr Uwins on the trail of a revolutionary new life form, or are her "nanobes" literally too small to live? In years to come, will she be hearlded as a pioneer who unravelled a key to the secret to life, or just another in a long line of scientific 'crackpots'?
Working on a routine consulting project for a petrolium company, Dr Uwins stumbled across mysterious structures measuring mere millionths of a millimetre in her rock samples. When she discovered the structures were not mineral, but biological, her nanobes became instant media celebrities.
Is Dr Uwins on the trail of a revolutionary new life form, or are her "nanobes" literally too small to live? In years to come, will she be hearlded as a pioneer who unravelled a key to the secret to life, or just another in a long line of scientific 'crackpots'?
