Lab meets brewery in this Global Perspectives Panel presented by Telus Health in partnership with the Gairdner Foundation.
Bacteria. Small, single-celled organisms that inhabit virtually every environment on Earth. They can be found in our guts or on our skin and come in various shapes and sizes. Some are beneficial, aiding digestion, supporting nutrient cycling or even facilitating the production of foods such as cheese, yogurt and sauerkraut. Others cause illness and disease.
Following Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, antibiotics–a class of drugs that kill bacteria or stop them from growing–rose to popularity, saving many lives from bacterial infections. But misuse and overdependence in healthcare and agriculture has driven resistance, as bacteria evolve new ways to evade these human-made interventions. The result? Common bacterial infections that are becoming harder and harder to treat and a global urgency to develop new ways to combat them.
Enter Dr. Bonnie Bassler and her team of molecular biologists whose award-winning research helped uncover how bacteria communicate with each other! More than unlocking Duolingo for microbes, Dr. Bassler’s research opens up a whole new realm of potential interventions to target harmful bacterial infections. Join us for a special evening with Dr. Bassler as she shares details of her discovery and its potential future impact, and answers your questions about talking with bacteria.
About the Speaker
Bonnie Bassler is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the Squibb Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. Her research focuses on molecular mechanisms that bacteria use for intercellular communication; a process called quorum sensing.
Bonnie’s discoveries are paving the way to novel therapies to combat disease-causing bacteria. She received prizes including a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the Shaw Prize in Life Sciences and Medicine, the Dickson Prize in Medicine, the Gruber Genetics Prize, and the Wolf Prize in Chemistry. Bonnie received Princeton’s President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
She is devoted to diversity in the sciences and educating lay people about the thrill and relevance of scientific research. Bonnie was President of the American Society for Microbiology, and she served on the National Science Board. She was nominated to the Board by President Barack Obama. The Board oversees the NSF and prioritizes the nation’s research and educational activities in science, math, and engineering.
Hannah Hoag is a journalist and editor with two decades of experience covering science, medicine, climate and energy. Her articles have appeared in Science, Nature, The Atlantic, The Globe and Mail, The New York Times and others. She was previously the deputy editor and the energy and environment editor at The Conversation Canada, and the founding managing editor of Arctic Deeply.
Banner illustration of quorum sensing by Dr. Thom Leach, Amoeba Studios Ltd.
