I called up and said, 'Dad, I won a MacArthur.' My father goes: 'I always thought your sister would win that,' and I said, 'Dad, just say congratulations and keep your private thoughts private.' At that point he laughed, then… — Bonnie Bassler Copy Share Image
Science is difficult and slow no matter who you are. The hours are long, and the glorious 'aha' days come only very infrequently. You have to keep believing that if you put in the hours, those days will indeed come! — Bonnie Bassler Copy Share Image
We mostly don't get sick. Most often, bacteria are keeping us well. — Bonnie Bassler Copy Share Image
It's a manic-depressive life. You run in here, you open your incubator, your experiment makes no sense, you think, 'I hate this job.' Then… — Bonnie Bassler Copy Share Image
All these bacteria that coat our skin and live in our intestines, they fend off bad bacteria. They protect us. And you can't even… — Bonnie Bassler Copy Share Image
Most bacteria aren't bad. We breathe and eat and ingest gobs of bacteria every single moment of our lives. Our food is covered in… — Bonnie Bassler Copy Share Image
I called up and said, 'Dad, I won a MacArthur.' My father goes: 'I always thought your sister would win that,' and I said,… — Bonnie Bassler Copy Share Image
By weight, you are more human than bacteria, because your cells are bigger, but by numbers, it's not even close. — Bonnie Bassler Copy Share Image
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… — Bonnie Bassler Copy Share Image
You can find bacteria everywhere. They're invisible to us. I've never seen a bacterium, except under a microscope. They're so small, we don't see… — Bonnie Bassler Copy Share Image
If a bacterium is trying to infect you, it won't secrete alone, because your immune system will block it. Bacteria will hide until they… — Bonnie Bassler Copy Share Image
Bacteria mineralized the rocks; they deposited the iron. They made the geology we see. — Bonnie Bassler Copy Share Image
You think of yourselves as human beings, but I think of you as 99 percent bacterial. — Bonnie Bassler Copy Share Image
