From a conversation with James Redfern, I looked up the work of Bonnie Bassler, a leader in the field of microbiology. Some of the key things I took from her Ted Talk were:
- Bacteria are the oldest organisms on the planet (like Redfern said, we live in their world)
- There are 1 trillion human cells and 10 trillion bacterial cells in you and on you – 10 times the amount
- At a DNA level, we have 100x more bacterial genes playing a role in and on us throughout our life (so we are only between 1-10% human!)
- These microbes keep us alive and healthy by protecting us from ‘bad’ bacteria
- Scientists thinks that bacteria ‘made the rules’ for how multi-cellar organisation works, so it helps us to understand features of our own bodies if we can understand bacteria
This point, which I have found reiterated throughout my research, links to the point of the difference between ‘reality’ and ‘mythology’ of bacteria, something I am interested in engaging with in my project.
Bassler pioneered research into how bacteria communicate to each other. She has found that when there are a certain amount of one type of bacteria in a culture (also known as a community, another curiosity), which they communicate to each other by releasing and recognising chemical molecule signals.
All bacteria talk to each other, this is called quorum sensing. Their behaviour changes when they know there are more of their own type around, they ‘turn on’ certain behaviours, such as bio-luminescence or virulence. Each bacteria has their own chemical molecule for inter-species communication. Using quorum sensing, bacteria can also recognise when other types of bacteria are nearby: “how many of me, and how many of you”. This influences what tasks they carry out, such as when they behave defensively or aggressively.
The application of this research is to develop new ways of tacking antibiotic resistance. If scientists can confuse the recognition of chemical molecules, they can prevent bacteria from ‘turning on’ violent features.
Reference:
Bassler, B. (2009) How bacteria ‘talk’. Video lecture. [Online] Available at: http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders.html [Accessed 07 January 2017].