Professor Bassler is just brilliant!! She is also so humble; At the end she gave so much credit to her team, but she has initiated so much of these studies and her drive is what has kept this going!! Go Bonnie!!
I wish more professors would understand how to give a proper explanation, I have found my current professor completely out of touch and rambling on for hours, stumbling through her explanation and pointing at a power point with the intent to make a student feel dumb, then you watch Bonnie Bassler videos and become infected with her passion and everything not only makes sense but also makes you want to learn more. Thank you, Mrs. Basler, for sharing this with us. #legend
*Lecturing on the topic of Quorum Sensing Today* Each time I view this video, I feel like the class is stepping through a door into a new understanding of life, the universe, and everything... #QuorumSensing
Dr. Bonnie Bassler is a monumentally important human whose mind has greatly served and enlightened the rest of us. Thank you Professor Bassler. (I'm a narrowly educated aero-engineer). What a world the bios are in! Cool.
That was fantastic. What an amazing talk. I had no idea and learned many new things about bacteria and how useful they are. Thank you for the upload. More TED talks is always a great thing.
This is really important for people to understand--the medicines that save our children's lives will likely come from this kind of knowledge. TED rocks, so much!
Great presentation! I really enjoyed the last part when she pointed out the demographic she works with at Princeton. It is clear she shares her knowledge, by actually spending time teaching. Commendable that she shares credit for the discoveries made by her group and that she takes time to communicate in and out of the group. No wonder she ( and they) knew what it was that they were looking at.
pretendig im not lonley is the closest thing i have to not being lonely. its not crazy it surviving because lonliness wont kill you, it will just show u urself over and over- god is relief.
Wow, I'm speechless!! What a wonderful talk, and indeed, the ramifications of these findings are just amazing! Let's just hope it's not used towards another weapon.
She seems to be an honest and intelligent person without stagefright and even though a scientist, a person with love. Tell you what, her research students are lucky as much as they are brilliant.
I honestly kind of like some of her ideas for the intra-species antibiotic possibilities. However, I'm also worried that she's mentioned they're hypothesizing about doing this with the inter-species hormones as well. Wouldn't that cause problems with beneficial bacteria as well as the dangerous ones? And she also mentions beefing up conversation with beneficial bacteria - would this not result in also beefing up conversation in bacteria, since it would HAVE to be interspecies hormones?
Also, your comment reminded me of a critical phenomenon in history. The primordial earth used to be very rich in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and life at that stage thrived in it. But suddenly a mutation led to new bacteria and algae that photosynthesize and create oxygen. This massive influx of this new element oxygen led to massive extinctions and eventually allowed for us to develop. We are doing something similar with pollutants, but on a much smaller and less lethal scale.
Q1: It can, by changing the type of receptors, but we can change the kind of molecules we are using against them. Bacterias seems to be very dependent on these receptor types, and removing it would never be an option. Q2: I think these kinds of antibiotics should be used after the bacteria attack, as an counter attack. When the body knows where they are. I speculate if it is possible to trick aids into thinking that it have the right number of bacterias to start attacking at an early stage.
We didn't get to learn enough about how bacteria actually count these molecules to what exactly her treatment in mice does. I imagine the bacteria have many sensors along their cell membrane and basically get a, Yes (there is a molecule in this sensor) or No (there is no molecule in this sensor) response from each sensor. Once it receives a threshold level of simultaneous Yes's, it activates a behavior. As opposed to somehow having a memory of how frequently is counts one of these molecules.
InvalidationX145, I'm not sure if I understood your comment correctly but what I think she's trying to say is that they are making receptors to block the hormones of intra and inter species. It would make sense that the inter-species hormones would then go and block receptors of other bacteria, however for the anti-quroum drugs to work I would guess that the bacteria would need BOTH the intraspecies and interspecies antagonists. Also, the same would go with beefing up conversations.
I agree Mrmoc7, I do not deny the importance of emotions and spirituality, it is what gives our existence value and growth. These are just as important as the logic I am supporting. I merely meant to say that many times emotions/spirituality can cloud our judgment negatively at times and we should keep that in mind. Some variable symptoms of unchecked human emotions/spirituality are Marxism, Fascism, Religious fundamentalism, Terrorism, Gambling, Drug abuse, extreme environmentalists, etc.
Autoinducer-2 (AI-2), is one of the quorum sensing molecules in the talk. It's a furanosyl borate diester produced by multiple Vibrios. IUPAC name: (3aS,6S,6aR)-2,2,6,6a-tetrahydroxy-3a-methyltetrahydrofuro[3,2-d][1,3,2]dioxaborolan-2-uide)
That does matter because if it is a much higher number how does that then compare to how much bacteria. It's kind of important to get the numbers right if your comparing them.
Excellent vid! With all the work on nanotechnology it's sometimes easy to forget what great nanotechnology is ALREADY available, and how it can benefit us to learn more about working with what's already there. (although I suppose bacteria are better classified as "micro" tech instead of "nano"). ....dealing with bacteria on "their terms," great idea. A bacteria "naturalist." The Jane Goodall of bacteria ;)
Well, that was pretty cool, but I do have one big question about the one that blocks the "general signal" receptor. If every bacteria has this "general" receptor, and you block it, how did the mouse live? Like she said before, there are bacteria which are necessary for us to live, and if we employ this block to all bacteria, wouldn't it affect the good bacteria as well? I might be missing something, but the idea that all of our bacteria being rendered useless is kinda scary.
She says bacteria get resistant to antibiotics because we select for them. This is true, but don't we also select for bacteria resistant to quorum sensing inhibitors? When cells that have inhibited communication are less fit, then there can and will emerge a mutation in the receptor leading to reduced binding of the inhibitor. Which is exactly the same principle like resistance to antibiotics.
If by overly specialized you mean specialized for a set of circumstances that will at some point become obsolete, I agree with you entirely. Bacteria is going to be here a long time after us, and that's okay.
2010, 2020, 2030, 2040 - we will see very different decades as technological progress itself accelerates in an exponential fashion. Discoveries build on past discoveries, it gains traction in the 20th century and takes off in the 21st century, we even have robots doing a lot of research lab work much more efficiently and accurately than human hands.
brilliant, but one question, what happens to the multiplying bacteria, they're still growing, all this does is stop them from activation, but they'll still eat resources within our body?
I am perplexed. What are bacteria to gain from the inter-species communication? Just imagine that all of the animals in the forest (wolfs and rabbits) are whistling the same tune. Those animals that would not whistle would be much better at catching the prey and avoid being hunted and would survive.
Newportlights, what is the purpose of science, if not to benefit humanity? Merely understanding is only scratching the surface of the universe, engineering and technology is the next natural stage in the evolution of the universe.
They don't stop multiplying, but they have a different cellular program, which makes them an easier target for antibiotics and/or the immune system. Also some bacteria are less virulent, when they don't realize, that they are in a big group and that is why the mouse was able to live with addition to quorum sensing inhibitors.
Will that not eventually lead to the same dilemma? I imagine there will be a mutation that will produce a new type of autoinducer enabling the bacteria to quorum sense again and produce virulence factors... Furthermore, how does the immune system recognise the bacteria if it's silent?
You are absolutely right, it's the same dilemma. The immune system indeed has problems recognizing silent bacteria (bacteria in biofilms) which leads to chronic infections. A bacteria that is silent usually leads to a less severe disease than acute-infection bacteria.
The easiest method for preventing pathological bacterial infections is to prevent their attachment to human cells. Medical doctors are responsible for a great number of antibiotic resistant bacteria through the overuse and irresponsible use of antibiotics and thus are partially responsible for hospital acquired infections responsible for the countless deaths every year within the united states.
Maybe it makes more sense to make lonely bacteria think that there is a lot of another bacterias and its time to attack using fake chemicals. A small amount of bacteria will not cause a lot of damage.
It is research into a series of chemicals that can cut off the communication between bacteria, potentially restricting them from becoming virulent. Current antibiotics merely kill bacteria, every kind of bacteria, indiscriminately, and ARE getting into the enviroment and being used carelessly (because they are so effective in treating disease!). This offers a safer, more effecient, targetted treatment.
Loved this talk! She gave a lot of great information and I'm encouraged by the fact that she loves her job!
David
Professor Bassler is just brilliant!! She is also so humble; At the end she gave so much credit to her team, but she has initiated so much of these studies and her drive is what has kept this going!! Go Bonnie!!
I wish more professors would understand how to give a proper explanation, I have found my current professor completely out of touch and rambling on for hours, stumbling through her explanation and pointing at a power point with the intent to make a student feel dumb, then you watch Bonnie Bassler videos and become infected with her passion and everything not only makes sense but also makes you want to learn more. Thank you, Mrs. Basler, for sharing this with us. #legend
*Lecturing on the topic of Quorum Sensing Today*
Each time I view this video, I feel like the class is stepping through a door into a new understanding of life, the universe, and everything...
#QuorumSensing
She really gave an amazing talk with passion. What a great teacher.
I just attended one of her talks about this at Princeton University. The talk was 50 minutes long, but it was incredible. Simply stunning...
I always enjoy people like her, who are deeply devoted to their area of expertise. It makes for jolly and interesting conversations.
Prof Bassler's hand motions and gestures are awesome and reflect her passion for her work. Also, very cute.
had to watch this for my microbiology class, and i’m glad i did! this was really informative and interesting!
Well sounds like you have a good microbiology professor, mine had no idea who she was. Dear god,
Wow! Her enthusiasm is infectious! Attractive and wonderful presentation. Great, important work done by her and her team!
Dr. Bonnie Bassler is a monumentally important human whose mind has greatly served and enlightened the rest of us. Thank you Professor Bassler. (I'm a narrowly educated aero-engineer). What a world the bios are in! Cool.
That was fantastic. What an amazing talk.
I had no idea and learned many new things about bacteria and how useful they are. Thank you for the upload. More TED talks is always a great thing.
This is really important for people to understand--the medicines that save our children's lives will likely come from this kind of knowledge. TED rocks, so much!
I love her passion for bacteria and how relate-able and simple she made this information for me. It inspires me to explore more about my world.
Bonnie is an amazing charismatic scientist. Making complex topics accessible to the play public!
Great presentation! I really enjoyed the last part when she pointed out the demographic she works with at Princeton. It is clear she shares her knowledge, by actually spending time teaching. Commendable that she shares credit for the discoveries made by her group and that she takes time to communicate in and out of the group. No wonder she ( and they) knew what it was that they were looking at.
Wow, she's very good! Excellent talk!
What a treat! She speaks with such big words, yet amazingly I was able to digest it. Great TED talk! :)
You can tell she is very passionate about the subject she is lecturing about. She makes this TED talk very interesting and entertaining.
She simply love her job
It's crazily obvious...loved every word and just because it was so obvious that she is passionate of what she is doing!
"Stealth squid"
Thats what i love about TED-Talks. You get to hear about all sorts of cool stuff you've never heard of before.
Bonnie is always so passionate in her lesson. So go at public speaking. Probably because microbiology is my major, so I don't feel too fast
pretendig im not lonley is the closest thing i have to not being lonely. its not crazy it surviving because lonliness wont kill you, it will just show u urself over and over- god is relief.
She's such a brilliant speaker! not once was I bored and what amazing work they seem to be doing :)
Magnificent! And her enthusiasm is heart-warming. There's hope for mankind.
Wow! I understood everything she wanted to share! Great TED talk told with such sparkling enthousiasm :)
She did such a good job she got a standing novation. Thing was she was spot on the topic the entire way through.
Wow, I'm speechless!! What a wonderful talk, and indeed, the ramifications of these findings are just amazing! Let's just hope it's not used towards another weapon.
This is probably one the most interesting videos on TedTalks. Very informative!
it was nice to see her class they are so young what an amazing bunch of intellectuals, great presentation very interesting
she should have bowed. I felt like bowing for her. truly awesome presentation. my mind has expanded. ty for that. :D
Wow, how does one speak so well...?
She seems to be an honest and intelligent person without stagefright and even though a scientist, a person with love. Tell you what, her research students are lucky as much as they are brilliant.
She is the bacteria whisperer.
Shes a perfect speaker! And I've never thought that anyone could speak about germs with such enthusiasm. ;p
Came here to study for the Biol*1080 exam tomorrow. I love how both the top comments are pertaining to that ahah
I honestly kind of like some of her ideas for the intra-species antibiotic possibilities. However, I'm also worried that she's mentioned they're hypothesizing about doing this with the inter-species hormones as well. Wouldn't that cause problems with beneficial bacteria as well as the dangerous ones? And she also mentions beefing up conversation with beneficial bacteria - would this not result in also beefing up conversation in bacteria, since it would HAVE to be interspecies hormones?
Also, your comment reminded me of a critical phenomenon in history. The primordial earth used to be very rich in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and life at that stage thrived in it. But suddenly a mutation led to new bacteria and algae that photosynthesize and create oxygen. This massive influx of this new element oxygen led to massive extinctions and eventually allowed for us to develop. We are doing something similar with pollutants, but on a much smaller and less lethal scale.
This is amazing and she is fantastic - using every minute every breath!!
Wonderful!
I hope this video goes "viral!"
:)
Bonnie rocks! Just imagine what we could have accomplished, had our school/college professors been like her.
very cool and i will be interested to see if this goes mainstream.
I actually went to this exact same lecture at the Fermi labs with her
I don't know if the microbology class can be this fascinating! WOW...
Fascinating line of research!
I have a similar concern, however, she seemed to be quite aware of the need to keep the good bacteria healthy...
Im impressed, great talk, really amazing!.
If this works I would put her up for a Nobel. This is such a simple but brilliant theory.
Q1: It can, by changing the type of receptors, but we can change the kind of molecules we are using against them. Bacterias seems to be very dependent on these receptor types, and removing it would never be an option.
Q2: I think these kinds of antibiotics should be used after the bacteria attack, as an counter attack. When the body knows where they are.
I speculate if it is possible to trick aids into thinking that it have the right number of bacterias to start attacking at an early stage.
Wonderful and interesting talk. Great group of peeps.
We didn't get to learn enough about how bacteria actually count these molecules to what exactly her treatment in mice does.
I imagine the bacteria have many sensors along their cell membrane and basically get a, Yes (there is a molecule in this sensor) or No (there is no molecule in this sensor) response from each sensor. Once it receives a threshold level of simultaneous Yes's, it activates a behavior. As opposed to somehow having a memory of how frequently is counts one of these molecules.
Now that's pretty neat to know. How incredibly useful
This is incredible. Imagine the possibilities!!!!
InvalidationX145, I'm not sure if I understood your comment correctly but what I think she's trying to say is that they are making receptors to block the hormones of intra and inter species. It would make sense that the inter-species hormones would then go and block receptors of other bacteria, however for the anti-quroum drugs to work I would guess that the bacteria would need BOTH the intraspecies and interspecies antagonists. Also, the same would go with beefing up conversations.
this is a very important perspective on the human body.
I agree Mrmoc7, I do not deny the importance of emotions and spirituality, it is what gives our existence value and growth. These are just as important as the logic I am supporting. I merely meant to say that many times emotions/spirituality can cloud our judgment negatively at times and we should keep that in mind. Some variable symptoms of unchecked human emotions/spirituality are Marxism, Fascism, Religious fundamentalism, Terrorism, Gambling, Drug abuse, extreme environmentalists, etc.
that was a great video. fabulous job.
Autoinducer-2 (AI-2), is one of the quorum sensing molecules in the talk. It's a furanosyl borate diester produced by multiple Vibrios. IUPAC name: (3aS,6S,6aR)-2,2,6,6a-tetrahydroxy-3a-methyltetrahydrofuro[3,2-d][1,3,2]dioxaborolan-2-uide)
well done! great discovery Bonnie
That does matter because if it is a much higher number how does that then compare to how much bacteria. It's kind of important to get the numbers right if your comparing them.
Love the title!! Who knew bacteria had social lives?
amazing work.
This tlk is amazing,
Excellent vid! With all the work on nanotechnology it's sometimes easy to forget what great nanotechnology is ALREADY available, and how it can benefit us to learn more about working with what's already there. (although I suppose bacteria are better classified as "micro" tech instead of "nano").
....dealing with bacteria on "their terms," great idea. A bacteria "naturalist." The Jane Goodall of bacteria ;)
Wow i love this talk.
Not really. She specified two types of blocking mechanisms - specific, and general. My question was directed toward the general blocker.
Great speech!
The problem is not "if" it will be used in another weapon, but when.
"Man measures his strength by his destructiveness" - Devil
Man and Superman-Shaw
On 4 July 2012, the discovery of a new particle with a mass between 125 and127 GeV/c2 was announced; physicists suspected that it was the Higgs boson.
so THAT'S how commensals recognise each other! great stuff.
A passion for her craft
Well, that was pretty cool, but I do have one big question about the one that blocks the "general signal" receptor. If every bacteria has this "general" receptor, and you block it, how did the mouse live? Like she said before, there are bacteria which are necessary for us to live, and if we employ this block to all bacteria, wouldn't it affect the good bacteria as well? I might be missing something, but the idea that all of our bacteria being rendered useless is kinda scary.
yes, people need to realize that they are part of the cycle and cannot be freed from it without destroying the parts that sustain us.
amazing topic. really amazing.
Excellent!
Hotze micro 2019!
Amazing Talk!
She says bacteria get resistant to antibiotics because we select for them. This is true, but don't we also select for bacteria resistant to quorum sensing inhibitors? When cells that have inhibited communication are less fit, then there can and will emerge a mutation in the receptor leading to reduced binding of the inhibitor. Which is exactly the same principle like resistance to antibiotics.
If by overly specialized you mean specialized for a set of circumstances that will at some point become obsolete, I agree with you entirely. Bacteria is going to be here a long time after us, and that's okay.
Brilliant! Technology gives me hope for the future.
Fascinating.
2010, 2020, 2030, 2040 - we will see very different decades as technological progress itself accelerates in an exponential fashion. Discoveries build on past discoveries, it gains traction in the 20th century and takes off in the 21st century, we even have robots doing a lot of research lab work much more efficiently and accurately than human hands.
Great Job ! really !!
I wonder about perhaps learning about these systems extensively BEFORE messing with them for a change.
good Works
She is amazing😻
That was amazing!
mindblowing
Wonderful
@elitept sounds pretty regular to me but then again i'm a fast talker too. just depends on how familiar you are with english.
brilliant, but one question, what happens to the multiplying bacteria, they're still growing, all this does is stop them from activation, but they'll still eat resources within our body?
I am perplexed. What are bacteria to gain from the inter-species communication? Just imagine that all of the animals in the forest (wolfs and rabbits) are whistling the same tune. Those animals that would not whistle would be much better at catching the prey and avoid being hunted and would survive.
Newportlights, what is the purpose of science, if not to benefit humanity? Merely understanding is only scratching the surface of the universe, engineering and technology is the next natural stage in the evolution of the universe.
How does disabling the inter species quorum sensing stop the bacteria from multiplying?
They don't stop multiplying, but they have a different cellular program, which makes them an easier target for antibiotics and/or the immune system. Also some bacteria are less virulent, when they don't realize, that they are in a big group and that is why the mouse was able to live with addition to quorum sensing inhibitors.
Will that not eventually lead to the same dilemma? I imagine there will be a mutation that will produce a new type of autoinducer enabling the bacteria to quorum sense again and produce virulence factors... Furthermore, how does the immune system recognise the bacteria if it's silent?
You are absolutely right, it's the same dilemma.
The immune system indeed has problems recognizing silent bacteria (bacteria in biofilms) which leads to chronic infections. A bacteria that is silent usually leads to a less severe disease than acute-infection bacteria.
The easiest method for preventing pathological bacterial infections is to prevent their attachment to human cells. Medical doctors are responsible for a great number of antibiotic resistant bacteria through the overuse and irresponsible use of antibiotics and thus are partially responsible for hospital acquired infections responsible for the countless deaths every year within the united states.
Anyone know the chemical name for the interspecies signaling molecule?
i like your style.
No, bacteria have very little or just one cell. But we have so many bacteria on us that their amount overcomes our own human cells.
Maybe it makes more sense to make lonely bacteria think that there is a lot of another bacterias and its time to attack using fake chemicals. A small amount of bacteria will not cause a lot of damage.
How you know they are there before they express their pathogenicity?
You mean bacterium?
It is research into a series of chemicals that can cut off the communication between bacteria, potentially restricting them from becoming virulent.
Current antibiotics merely kill bacteria, every kind of bacteria, indiscriminately, and ARE getting into the enviroment and being used carelessly (because they are so effective in treating disease!).
This offers a safer, more effecient, targetted treatment.
very interesting
They recently found an entire area of the ocean that has glowing sea life!