Learn about the microbiome, the amazing flexibility of bacteria, and why we have an antibiotic resistance crisis with Professor Lindsay Turnbull from the University of Oxford Have you ever wondered what bacteria do for you? Bacteria are the ultimate survivors and brilliant at adapting to a changing environment. By turning genes on and off - known as gene expression - they can change the tools and machinery that they produce, so they can deal with different foodstuffs.

Bacteria also carry extra bits of DNA, called plasmids, that carry genes that allow bacteria to cope with unusual situations. Genes for antibiotic resistance are often carried on plasmids and this means they can easily be passed around, leading to the current crisis.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

00:24 Titles

00:29 The Microbiome

01:51 E.coli and gene expression

03:34 Gene expression in detail (the lac operon)

04:53 Plasmids and the antibiotic resistance crisis

06:49 Antibiotic use in livestock

08:30 What bacteria can't do

09:05 Outro