Microbial Puppet Masters

What’s on offer?

We have hands on models of viruses and bacteria to hold, wash off tatoos, working models of infection that can be manipulated by all ages, a VR experience to see bacteria and their viruses interating in the Cystic Fibrosis Lung, hands on bioinformatics displays and a crafting opportunity to build your own bacterial virus.

What’s it about?

Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that infect bacteria. They are the most abundant and diverse organisms on earth, and their actions underlie the fundamental biology of our planet. Phages have been in a perpetual evolutionary dance with their bacterial hosts for millions of years. Some are being developed as antibacterial therapies, but others can form cooperative partnerships with the bacteria they infect. Join us to pull back the curtains on a set of phages that make bacteria more able to survive in the body and cause disease. We have created both virtual reality and physical interactive models that convey important messages about bacterial viruses that are in a perpetual evolutionary dance with their bacterial hosts.

Who’s leading the event?

Prof. Heather Allison - University of Liverpool Department of Clinical Infection, Microbiology and Immunology

Open to

Everyone