Superbug evolution: understanding the spread of antimicrobial resistance

Viruses like SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, aren't the only problem we face globally when it comes to infectious disease. Bacterial pathogens are constantly evolving, presenting a challenge for the worlds healthcare systems as more of the antibiotics we rely on to kill bacteria fail on those that have evolved antimicrobial resistance. In this episode, we chat with Victoria Carr, a PhD student in Bioinformatics at the Centre for Host-Microbiome Interactions Kings College London and The Alan Turing Institute, who describes her research comparing antimicrobial resistance in mouth and gut microbes and developing software to find "mobile genetic elements" (DNA sequences that can change position within a genome) and their association with antibiotic resistance genes. Be sure to also check out Vicky's podcast about women in tech at  https://www.researcherscode.com/podcast