Summary of week 1

Congratulations on completing week 1 of the course. We hope you enjoyed it.

This week you have learnt what bacteria are, how they are classified and that some types of bacteria cause disease in humans. We have described how genomes encode information and that this information describes how cells are built and function. You have read how bacterial genomes can change through mutation and plasmid acquisition and that this can affect whether they are able to cause disease.

In one of the videos, Mike Quail described how genome sequencing technology has developed to allow us to sequence thousands of bacteria at relatively little cost. As you will see in weeks 2 and 3, these technological advances are what allow us to track disease outbreaks and the spread of antimicrobial resistance more accurately than ever before.

Finally, we introduced the Artemis genome browser, that helps us to visualise bacterial genomes and investigate how they evolve. We showed you an example of how a strain of Chlamydia escaped detection because it was missing the part of the genome normally used to identify it. Whole genome sequencing gives Chlamydia nowhere to hide!

Well done on finishing Week 1 of Bacterial Genomics: Disease Outbreaks and Antimicrobial Resistance. Now might be a good time to share your achievement with family, friends or colleagues.

We look forward to welcoming you to Week 2.