I Hear My Bacteria Talking

In Microcosm, I write about how E. coli communicate with each other (and can eavesdrop on us). Here’s a great talk by Bonnie Bassler from Princeton on her pioneering work on microbial conversations, and why they’re so important to the rest of life on Earth.

April 8th, 2009 10:53 AM by Carl Zimmer in Microcosm: The Book | 6 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

6 Responses to “I Hear My Bacteria Talking”

1. NewEnglandBob Says:
April 8th, 2009 at 12:41 pm

I am halfway through reading “Microcosm: E. coli And The New Science of Life” and I am enjoying it and learning as I read.

This is a very good book, terrific research. Thanks Carl.

Bassler’s talk is fascinating. Anti-quorum sensing molecule – not quite a catchy name though. (antiquosmole? and proquosmole?)
2. Albert Bakker Says:
April 8th, 2009 at 1:51 pm

This is great stuff. I am going to have to know more about this. So I just ordered the book. If it doesn’t live up to my expectations I’m going to eat it though.
3. JeffB Says:
April 8th, 2009 at 10:27 pm

There are some great films made in the 1950s about Myxobacteria and the results of their communication.
4. Brian Hershey Says:
April 9th, 2009 at 3:46 pm

Thank you for pointing us to Bassler’s presentation, and to the TED series as a whole. What an incredible collection of speeches and performances! None are over 18 minutes in length, and cover many topics that I’m sure your readers will enjoy. ted.com is now just below The Loom in my favorites list!
5. Bonnie Bassler on Learning To Speak Microbe | The Loom | Discover Magazine Says:
July 1st, 2010 at 11:55 am

[...] if you crave more, check out her excellent TED lecture last [...]
6. rekado Says:
July 19th, 2010 at 10:51 am

Intriguing! Ever since reading the bit about bacteria species hunting E. coli in “The Tangled Bank” my fascination for bacteria was revived. This fascination carries me through “The Machinery of Life” these days. Thanks for embedding this great talk here!

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