Automaton entitled 'E.coli Theatre', commissioned for the Health Matters gallery, made by Andy Hazel, 1993

Greeting visitors on their entry to the Science Museum’s Health Matters gallery, the curtains of this automaton opened to reveal a Petri dish of an E.coli bacteria in a laboratory setting. At the time this gallery was refreshed in 2007, E.coli was the world’s most studied organism. It was investigated as a potential way to diagnose cancer and diabetes for medicines development. Also known as Escherichia coli, it commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms. Most strains are harmless, but some are associated with food poisoning, pneumonia and urinary tract infections.