Discussion Forum for this event.

Infectious agents evolve, just like other living things. And because they have short life cycles and large population sizes, they do it quickly. Are we destined always to be playing catch up in the evolutionary arms race?

Dr Bill Hanage of Imperial College London will introduce the debate on how natural selection leads to the virulence of the diseases we know, the emergence of new ones, and how it might affect the future of both.

• Are we doomed to be always playing catch up in the fight against resistant superbugs?
• Avian Flu, the next pandemic or a flash in the pan?
• HIV vaccine, dream or reality?
• Information technology and bioinformatics: can it help us predict evolution of new dangers?
• Humans vs pathogens: an arms race on a microscale?
• Why do some infectious diseases evolve to become less virulent?