Frontiers of Medicine: Zebrafish, Brushing Your Teeth, and Shoe-Making Bacteria

A lot of focus has been on using bacteria to break down plastics, but a relatively new field is using bacteria to make it! This talk will be on development and potential for biopolymers in the future including everything from shoes to artificial organs.

My talk will cover how taking good care of your oral hygiene could actually have benefits for the health of your heart. When we discuss taking care of our teeth and gums, we don't initially think about our cardiovascular system - but periodontitis (gum disease) can cause issues elsewhere in our body. It's not just diet and exercise that are essential for cardio health. So next time you think about skipping out on brushing your teeth, think about your heart!

Antibiotics, drugs that we rely on to treat bacterial infections, are losing their ability to cure disease due to emerging drug-resistant bacterial strains. This means that deadly bacterial diseases, such as tuberculosis are on the rise and are becoming untreatable. This talk will outline alternative treatment possibilities, including boosting our immunity to infections during disease. I will outline the research we do in Sheffield using zebrafish to understand how our immunity works and to find new therapies against drug-resistant infection.