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There are around 40 trillion bacteria on and in the human body, about the same as the number of human cells! You can’t see them, but microbes are everywhere! These microscopic forms of life are superheros to some, giving us beer and cheese not to say the least, and villains to a few! Join us for incredible talks by Professor Janet Quinn and Alba Iglesias-Viches as they guide us through the wonderful world of microbes and fungi, where to find them and how they are taking over the world.
Fantastic microbes and where to find them
Alba Iglesias-Viches
(PhD Researcher, Newcastle University)
You can’t see them, but they are everywhere! Microbes inhabit each and every ecosystem on Earth, from deserts to the Arctic. Without these incredible tiny machines, life on our planet wouldn’t exist. Evolution has gifted them with unbelievable superpowers that we can and do benefit from. I invite you on a quick tour around Earth’s microbiome. Don’t you want to know what microbes are capable of?!?
Killer Fungi – A Clear and Present Danger to Life on Earth.
Professor Jan Quinn
(Professor of Eukaryotic Microbiology)
We share our planet about 5 million different types of fungi which perform numerous functions that make our planet habitable. However, there is a dark side to this Fungal Kingdom. New fungi are emerging that are wiping out our froggy friends and others are having devastating effect on crops thus threatening world food security. Humans are also at increasing risk from killer fungi - 1.5 million people are killed every year by a handful of fungal species! In this talk I’ll give an overview of some of the planet’s fungal foes and how we can tackle emerging fungal infections.
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