Dr Ian Wilson of Astra Zeneca plc will  lead our discussion on Microbes and Health (ours not theirs!).

You probably know that our digestive tracts (that’s “guts” to you and me) are teeming with a fantastic variety of bacteria – BUT, did you know that there are more bacterial cells in your body than there are human cells? These organisms are essential to help us digest our food, and we are essential to give them a home. That’s the ‘symbiosis’ bit. Scientists are now beginning to understand a great deal more about how these bacteria affect our health. Can it really be true that the presence of one species of bacterium controls what we eat?

“Did the bugs make me eat it?”, as the journal Science recently asked. This is a chance to discuss a topic which is only just getting going in modern research.