Francis Crick Prize Lecture: Pathogens and the power of evolution

How can bacterial and viral pathogens rapidly evolve to become more or less harmful? Kayla King examines changes in virulence across the tree of life using evolutionary theory, genome sequencing and laboratory selection experiments. The lecture considers changes occurring within weeks in response to host immunity and warming temperatures, their consequences for pathogen genomes and host health, and what they imply for predicting virulence in a changing world. It connects the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of infection with the growing risk of zoonotic spillover into humans and protected species.

Online via the Royal Society public livestream. The lecture is free to watch live on the Royal Society’s YouTube channel.