The Hammer lab strives to discover molecular mechanisms of bacteria and to communicate and apply this new knowledge to improve human and environmental health. We do so by dissecting the intricate genetic pathways of bacteria, employing complementary genomic, biochemical, ecological, and evolutionary approaches.
Bacteria are social! Sure, they’re microscopic, single-celled organisms, but they communicate with one another using chemical molecules. And this small talk has big consequences. It helps microbes decide what to do and when to do it. For over two decades I’ve studied this communication process we now call Quorum Sensing (QS). Much of our group’s work has focused on the bacterial pathogen Vibrio cholerae. We’ve uncovered that when bacteria talk, they release toxins that can cause illness and death, they share DNA encoding instructions that can improve their fitness, they hunker down on surfaces inside and outside of our bodies protecting them shifting external forces, and they fight with one another to gain the upper hand when food and space are scarce. Microbes rule the world!
