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BBC Inside Science: Predator bacteria therapy, New money for UK science, Stick-on stethoscope, Taming fears in the brain scanner

24/11/2016

Predator bacteria therapy, New money for UK science, Stick-on stethoscope, Taming fears in the brain scanner

BBC Radio 4 - BBC Inside Science, Predator bacteria therapy, New money for UK science, Stick-on stethoscope, Taming fears in the brain scanner

Can we use predatory bacteria as treatments for antibiotic resistant infections?

Bdellovibrio is a predatory bacterium which kills drug-resistant bacteria. Adam Rutherford talks to the scientist working towards using the microbe as a therapy for infections.

Bdellovibrio is a small bacterium which preys and kills other bacteria. A team of researchers in the UK has shown in animal experiments that injections of the predator microbe can successfully treat infections. So how close does this take us to Bdellovibrio therapy for human patients and what part might it play in tackling the growing crisis of antibiotic resistance? Adam Rutherford talks to Professor Liz Sockett of the University of Nottingham. 

The British government has announced that it will be spending an additional £2 billion on research and development by 2020. Commentators say it is the largest hike in public funding for science in a very long time. Dr Sarah Main of the Campaign for Science and Engineering, and Dr Arnab Basu, physicist and CEO of Kromek, discuss the new money and how it would be best used.

Also in the programme, materials and electronics engineers in the US have devised a small wearable heart monitor - the size and thickness of a sticking plaster. Adam talks to its lead designer Professor John Rogers of Northwestern University in Chicago. And could phobias be cured without exposure to the thing which frightens people? Dr Ben Seymour outlines an intriguing experiment which involved reading people's thoughts in a brain scanner, which suggests ultimately it may be possible.

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Predator bacteria therapy, New money for UK science, Stick-on stethoscope, Taming fears in the brain scanner

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