Bonnie Bassler – How Bacteria Talk

     I learned that bacteria are the oldest living organisms on earth, and they only have one piece of DNA. Bacteria can be inherently harmful, causing Lyme disease, toxic shock, food poisoning, and many other conditions. They can also be inherently good, keeping us alive, covering our bodies, keeping environmental factors out, digesting our food, making vitamins, and educating our immune system. Bacteria do not act as individuals. Instead, they work together to function. They do this by talking through a chemical language by secreting molecules that tell the bacteria to function. This was discovered by studying a squid that lives symbiotically with vibrio fisheri, a bacteria that emits bioluminescence. They discovered that this bacteria would only emit light when there was a specific density of bacteria in the area. This was because the bacteria produce auto-inducer molecules that can detect ‘sibling’ bacteria in the area.

(Quorum Sensing | Bacterial Communication | by Bonnie Bassler)

    What I found the most interesting was how bacteria communicate to see how efficiently they can harm their host. The bacteria can produce there chemical signals that are unique to their species of bacteria, but there are also Quorum Sensing molecules that can sense for antigens, pathogens, and many other factors. With this knowledge, they know whether or not their density of bacteria will efficiently work. If their concentration is greater than others around, then they will produce their virulent properties. I found it interesting that scientists can interfere with these chemical signals in new types of anti-bacterial medications to tell the bacteria not to harm the host.

    I want to share with my audience that you should always keep exploring and being curious. This is very new in the world of science and would have never been discovered if it weren’t for Bonnie Bassler‘s curiosity. She said to our class to never be discouraged when doing something hard, and I hope that that is a message readers take with them.

    Her talk made me curious about what innovations will come and how this new technology will develop. It also makes me wonder if, after all this research and energy, the new anti-bacterial medications will work.

Works Cited:

“Bacteria and the Power of Teamwork | Bonnie L. Bassler.” Princeton University, The Trustees of Princeton University, basslerlab.scholar.princeton.edu/news/bacteria-and-power-teamwork. Accessed 26 Nov. 2023.

Bassler, Bonnie. “How Bacteria ‘Talk.’” Bonnie Bassler: How Bacteria “Talk” | TED Talk, http://www.ted.com/talks/bonnie_bassler_how_bacteria_talk?language=en. Accessed 26 Nov. 2023.

BL;, Miller MB; Bassler. “Quorum Sensing in Bacteria.” Annual Review of Microbiology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11544353/#:~:text=Quorum%20sensing%20is%20the%20regulation,a%20function%20of%20cell%20density. Accessed 26 Nov. 2023.

“Bonnie L. Bassler | Department of Molecular Biology.” Princeton University, The Trustees of Princeton University, molbio.princeton.edu/people/bonnie-l-bassler. Accessed 26 Nov. 2023.