Microbes are an inescapable part of life on Earth. They are literally all around us and inside us and we are well adapted to their presence. While most microbes are harmless and in fact beneficial, others cause deadly diseases. I’ll discuss how our lab is investigating the interplay between different microbes and our relationship with them. We study the membranes of microbes in order to learn how we recognize a microbe to activate a killing response or, as in the case of chronic infections, how a microbe remains undetected, allowing it to evade our immune system.

David Goodlett, Professor, Biochemistry & Microbiology