Bonnie Bassler facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bonnie Bassler
Bassler at a 2015 American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology meeting.
Born	Bonnie Lynn Bassler 1962 (age 62–63) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	University of California, Davis Johns Hopkins University
Known for	Quorum sensing
Spouse(s)	Todd Reichart
Awards	Wiley Prize in Biomedical Science (2009) Richard Lounsbery Award (2011) Shaw Prize (2015) Pearl Meister Greengard Prize (2016) Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2022) Genetics Society of America Medal (2020) Princess of Asturias Award (2023)
Scientific career
Institutions	Princeton University

Bonnie Lynn Bassler (born 1962) is an American molecular biologist. This means she studies the tiny parts that make up living things, like DNA and proteins. She is a professor at Princeton University and a researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Dr. Bassler is famous for her work on how bacteria "talk" to each other. This special way of communicating is called quorum sensing. She found out how bacteria use chemical signals to count their numbers. This helps them decide when to work together.

Her discoveries have changed how scientists think about bacteria. They used to be seen as simple, single cells. Now we know they can act like a team. Dr. Bassler's research also suggests new ways to fight bad bacteria. Instead of killing them with antibiotics, we might be able to stop them from talking to each other. This could prevent them from causing infections.

Dr. Bassler has won many important awards for her science. These include the Princess of Asturias Award (2023) and the Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2022). She is also a member of important science groups, like the National Academy of Sciences.

Early Life and Education

Bonnie Bassler was born in Chicago, Illinois. She grew up in Danville, California. Her interest in science started early. When she was 13, she worked as an assistant at the Miami Zoo. Later, she helped at a local animal clinic.

She went to the University of California, Davis. She first planned to study veterinary science. But she soon became very interested in genetics and biochemistry. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry. During college, she worked on a project about bacteria. She found that tiny living things like bacteria are "perfect creatures to work on."

After college, Dr. Bassler continued her studies at Johns Hopkins University. She earned her PhD in biochemistry in 1990.

Postdoctoral Research

After getting her PhD, Dr. Bassler did more research. This is called postdoctoral research. From 1990 to 1994, she worked at the Agouron Institute in California. There, she worked with Michael R. Silverman. He was the first person to discover quorum sensing.

Silverman studied a marine bacterium called Vibrio fischeri. This bacterium glows in the dark. It only glows when there are many of them together. They use chemical signals to know how many other bacteria are nearby. Dr. Bassler found that bacteria are "multilingual." This means they use many different chemical signals to talk to each other.

She also discovered that bacteria use quorum sensing to tell the difference between themselves and other types of bacteria. This was thought to be something only more complex living things could do. Dr. Bassler showed that even viruses and human cells use similar communication. She also found that harmful bacteria use quorum sensing to become more dangerous. Her work has led to new ideas for stopping infections. These ideas focus on blocking the bacteria's communication.

In 1994, Dr. Bassler joined the faculty at Princeton University. She is now the head of the molecular biology department. Her lab at Princeton continues to study quorum sensing.

Research Discoveries

During her postdoctoral research, Dr. Bassler studied V. harveyi bacteria. She changed some of their genes to see how they glowed. She found that these bacteria use many different molecules for quorum sensing.

She learned that bacteria use these chemical messages to turn many genes on and off. This helps them respond to other bacteria. These messages allow bacteria of the same kind, and even different kinds, to work together. They cooperate much like cells in a larger animal do.

Dr. Bassler also found that a chemical element called boron helps in this communication. Boron is common in the ocean where V. harveyi bacteria live.

Her lab at Princeton focuses on how bacteria communicate within their own group. They also study how different types of bacteria talk to each other. They look at how bacteria know who is "self" and who is "other." They also study how bacteria share information and work together as a group.

Some of their research topics include:

• How bacteria tell the difference between their own kind and others.
• How tiny RNA molecules control quorum sensing.
• How bacteria form sticky communities called biofilms.
• How to control quorum sensing when needed.
• How bacteria in our bodies (the microbiome) communicate with each other and with our own cells.

Dr. Bassler's discoveries have opened up new ways to understand the world of microbes. Her work is important for basic science. It also helps us find new and exciting ways to treat diseases caused by bacteria.

Awards and Honors

Dr. Bonnie Bassler has received many awards for her important scientific work. Here are some of them: