In this first episode of Innovating Alternatives, we go down the rabbit hole of bacterial biology to get a handle on the basics of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) before Prof. Dame Sally Davies brings into focus the implications of this slow pandemic and what we are doing to deal with it. Innovating Alternatives is a serialized podcast series that will take you right to the cutting edge of science, where researchers are developing new and surprising alternatives to antibiotics and innovative solutions to reduce the use of antimicrobials in livestock and aquaculture production. For show notes please visit: https://www.idrc.ca/en/research-in-action/innovating-alternatives Get in touch and let us know what you think of the podcast by email innovetamr@idrc.ca or on twitter @Livestock_IDRC To learn more about the Innovative Veterinary Solutions for Antimicrobial Resistance (InnoVet-AMR) initiative please visit: https://www.idrc.ca/en/initiative/innovet-amr-innovative-veterinary-solutions-antimicrobial-resistance Image: CDC/Dr. JJ Farmer (PHIL #3031), 1978., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Caption: The disk diffusion test, or agar diffusion test, or Kirby–Bauer test (disc-diffusion antibiotic susceptibility test, disc-diffusion antibiotic sensitivity test, KB test), is an antibiotic susceptibility test. It uses antibiotic discs to test the extent to which bacteria are affected by those antibiotics. In this test, wafers containing antibiotics are placed on an agar plate where bacteria have been placed, and the plate is left to incubate. If an antibiotic stops the bacteria from growing or kills the bacteria, there will be an area around the wafer where the bacteria have not grown enough to be visible. This is called a zone of inhibition. More at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.o/wiki/Disk_diffusion_test