Humans vs Germs: Infinity War

As you are sipping on your cold drink watching the sun set over the tropical island paradise, the mosquito-ladies behind you may just be getting ready to sip on your sweet blood. If you are unlucky, their bite may come with an unwelcome present: a malaria infection. But what does your sun-downer have to do with malaria? Can a drink prevent anyone from getting infected? Or are there bigger systemic problems that cause the 600’000 malaria deaths every year? We will explore these questions and zoom into the science we conduct at Swiss TPH to support the global fight against malaria.

Bacteria might be tiny, but they wage fierce battles! I’ll introduce you to the Type VI secretion system, a powerful nanomachine used by some bacteria to inject toxins into competing bacteria or even human cells. Imagine a microscopic speargun! I'll share stunning videos of this weapon assembling and firing in real-time, revealing its devastating effects on target cells. You'll also witness how some disease-causing bacteria hijack this speargun to spread within a tissue, offering a unique glimpse into the hidden world of bacterial competition.

Did you know that every living organism on earth is susceptible to an infectious disease? Even the dreaded bacteria that cause human health problems can be infected and destroyed by viruses called phages. So, is this a silver bullet to kill all the antibiotic resistant bacteria then?! Let’s discuss the rise and fall of phage research, what we have learnt in over a hundred years of investigating interactions between phages and bacteria, how phages have influenced the development of molecular biology, and why phage therapy is more complicated than mixing a phage cocktail.