We've all been sick; we're all afraid of infection. I think the easiest application to help people understand what quorum sensing is and why it's important to study is to tell them that if we could make the bacteria either deaf or mute, we could create new antibiotics. Bonnie Bassler afraidantibioticapplication share on social
Think about multicellularity on this Earth. Every living thing originally came from bacteria. So, who do you think made up the rules for how to perform collective behaviors? It had to be the bacteria. Bonnie Bassler bacteriumbehaviorcollective Change image and share on social
In my lab, we are always thinking about how cells, bacterial cells, can talk to each other and then organize themselves into enormous groups that function in unison. Bonnie Bassler bacterialcellenormous Change image and share on social
Bacteria are single-celled organisms. Bacteria are the model organisms for everything that we know in higher organisms. There are 10 times more bacterial cells in you or on you than human cells. Bonnie Bassler bacterialbacteriumcell Change image and share on social
I was a huge athlete as a kid. I was on every sports team. Bonnie Bassler athletehugekid Change image and share on social
My bacteria glow in the dark - no human being doesn't like that. Bonnie Bassler bacteriumdarkglow Change image and share on social
Bacteria live in unbelievable mixtures of hundreds or thousands of species. Like on your teeth. There are 600 species of bacteria on your teeth every morning. Bonnie Bassler bacteriumhundredlive Change image and share on social
Think about all kinds of infectious diseases, like mumps or measles or chicken pox. When a virgin population encountered those pathogens, it ravaged the population, and now they're childhood diseases, and eventually they won't even be that. That's our relationship with bacteria, going through time. Bonnie Bassler bacteriumchickenchildhood share on social
Bacteria mineralized the rocks; they deposited the iron. They made the geology we see. Bonnie Bassler bacteriumdepositgeology Change image and share on social
My job is to teach someone something they never knew, but it should not be like you're in a prisoner-of-war camp. I'm supposed to be teaching you but also entertaining you. You're giving me an hour of your time. It should be lively. We're on a hunt, it's a mystery, and it's amazing. Bonnie Bassler amazecampentertain share on social