About this episode
The episode explores the potential benefits of viruses and their role in health, challenging the perception of them as solely harmful.
Cold and flu season is well and truly upon us, and whilst most of us are busy bemoaning the pesky viruses behind our sniffles and chesty coughs – one of our listeners has other ideas. Elizabeth wants to know whether we’re too hard on these oft-maligned microbes? We’ve all heard that some bacteria can be good for us, but what about viruses? Could they have a softer side too? Hannah and Dara explore the virome, from prehistoric placental proteins to ultra-precise disease fighting phages to find out if Viruses truly are the villains of the microscopic world or whether they just need a better PR team. Contributors Jonathan Ball - Professor of Molecular Virology at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Martha Clokie - Professor of Microbiology at the University of Leicester. Marylin Roosinck - Professor Emeritus of Microbiology at Penn State University US. Producer: Emily Bird Executive Producer: Sasha Feachem A BBC Studios Production
People in this episode
Hosts: Hannah, Dara
Guests: Jonathan Ball, Martha Clokie, Marylin Roosinck
Topics covered
- viruses
- microbiology
- health
- cold and flu
- virome
- disease fighting
Keywords
- viruses
- microbes
- health
- cold
- flu
- virome
- disease
- phages
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, University of Leicester, Penn State University US, BBC Radio 4, BBC Studios
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