It's a bug-buster's life

University of Aberdeen, Department of Medical Microbiology, Medical School Buildings, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD

Tel: 01224 681818

E-mail: mmbo36@abdn.ac.uk

Professor Pennington oversees two teams of scientists in his department: one group specialises in pure research to study existing organisms and identify new ones by using molecular biology; the second team is an applied food group which applies the technology in real-life situations. It works, for example, with chicken farmers to see how it can fight E coli 0157.

If I have to fly to London for a meeting or a talk, I'll take the 6.45am plane from Aberdeen. The airport is always busy at that time; it seems everyone wants to be on that flight. Otherwise, I'm up at 7am and take breakfast of coffee and cereals and then I read the newspaper.

I don't have to leave the house until 8.35am as I live in the middle of Aberdeen and my workplace - the university - is only five minutes' drive away. But this winter we've had lots of snow. Then I walk.

The first job is to read the mail, skim through medical and scientific journals and answer letters. The letters are often slightly wild, written on pages torn from exercise books and in green ink! It can be amusing, but sad, too.

I'm good at prioritising my time. I'm head of the department of medical microbiology, and between 10am and noon I'll often attend meetings related to the research work. This involves forming strategies with my colleagues on ways of getting grants for research programmes. Most funding comes from Government departments, research councils or bodies such as the Wellcome Trust.

We have a mixed picture on food poisoning cases in the UK. Some bugs are more resistant than ever and some of the salmonella and campylobacter varieties show worrying antibiotic-resistant tendencies. And while incidents of salmonella fell by 16% last year, levels of campylobacter bacteria jumped by 30%. Part of the reason for food poisoning rises in recent times must be to do with intensive breeding methods.

Saying we should switch to free-range methods, however, is simplistic. It would be too expensive and will never be more than just a small part of chicken breeding.

I think that there's also no intrinsic reason why organic methods are any safer than those using chemicals. Organic farming attracts its own problems, such as recycling E coli in manure.

Food poisoning is also more common because people eat out a lot more and not every restaurant is perfect in its hygiene. The Food Safety Act is a good piece of legislation, but people have to apply it. One of the functions of the future Food Standards Agency might be to ask if enforcement is as effective as it could be.

At 12.30pm, I'll take 45 minutes for lunch. The university and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary are interconnected, so I walk over to the hospital canteen. It has a good chef and the food is subsidised. I'll normally sit with my colleagues and discuss scientific matters.

There are few things I don't eat but I really don't care for dairy products - it's just a matter of taste. I often have some form of fish as I love seafood. My favourite restaurant in Aberdeen is the Silver Darling near the harbour. It specialises in fish, and I typically have flat fish such as plaice.

The last time I suffered food poisoning was 20 years ago in Montpellier, France. I ate a special Provenáal sausage and the tripe inside it came tumbling out. There was a group of us and we all went down with this terrible bug. Generally, though, I don't avoid any foods. I've never stopped eating British beef and I think that our beef is now safer to eat than European beef.

In the afternoon I might have to prepare for a talk I'll be giving either that evening or the following day. That means writing up a paper or gathering together slides. From 4pm to 6pm I'll probably be working on an article - I've usually got at least one on the go.

I normally go home at about 6pm unless I have to give a talk. Last week that involved driving to Stirling - and that's a long drive. I usually go to bed after 11pm. nt a turn