Harvard Medical School
Kolter Lab

ETCETERA

Elizabeth Shank: Interspecies Communication

Elizabeth Shank
I am investigating microbial interspecies interactions with the goal of understanding the mechanisms and molecules that bacteria use to communicate with one another. Historically, studies of interspecies interactions have focused on killing mediated by antibiotics. There is growing evidence, however, that bacterial natural products influence microbial processes and do not cause death. By examining such non-lethal interactions, we may discover not only new classes of bioactive molecules but also additional mechanisms by which bacteria evaluate and respond to their environment.