[Bacteria] have an incredibly complicated chemical lexicon that ... allows bacteria to be multicellular. In the spirit of TED they're doing things together because it makes a difference.
Bonnie BasslerRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Quorum sensing in bacteria is crucial for understanding infections and can lead to new antibiotic discoveries.
In this quote, Bonnie Bassler highlights the concept of quorum sensing, which is how bacteria communicate and coordinate their behavior, particularly in relation to infections. She suggests that if scientists could disrupt this communication by making bacteria 'deaf or mute', it could pave the way for developing new antibiotics, demonstrating the significance of understanding microbial behavior in medicine.
Themes
Quorum SensingBacteriaAntibioticsInfectionCommunication
In practice
Example use cases
In a science presentation discussing microbiology and infections.
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