Hands on with infection biology at the Edinburgh Science Festival

The Edinburgh Science Festival ran a vibrant programme of activities for all ages at the National Museum of Scotland during the Easter break in April 2023.

Researchers from the School of Biological Sciences spent several days engaging with visitors on topics ranging from antimicrobial resistance and the spread of viruses to the evolution of plans.

With the ever-increasing risks posed by AMR, the ongoing Covid pandemic and the threat of avian flu, the visitors were keen to understand more about the biology of disease spread, and how research at the University is helping to address the challenges we are facing.

Learning about AMR with the Weisse lab — Visitors really enjoyed hearing about research that helps understand the spread of antimicrobial resistance with researchers from Andrea Weisse's lab.

Learning about the genetic code at the ESF2023 — Zoe Vance from Andrew Rambaut's lab helped visitors to grips with the genetic code and how mutations arise that affect the pathogenesis of viruses.

Viruses with the Rambaut lab — Visitors had some really useful visual prompts to help understand how viruses differ from each other. Many thanks to the very talented Kate Duggan in Andrew's lab for the crocheted virus particles.

Looking at parastic worms down a microscope — The exhibit from Amy Buck's lab let visitors see the parasitic worms that can infect our guts, and learn about the long term consequences for health and wellbeing.

Hands on with infection biology at the Edinburgh Science Festival

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