"Finish your antibiotics! But not if it is a virus...." -- Dr. Bill Söderström

Internal Seminar: Bill Söderström, Postdoctoral Researcher, Structural Cellular Biology Unit (Skoglund Unit)

Title: "Finish your antibiotics! But not if it is a virus...."

Abstract: Have you ever had a bacterial infection, and have you taken antibiotics like penicillin to treat it? No worries, right? But what if the medicine wouldn't work? Then what? 6 feet under? You have probably all read about antibiotic resistance and “super-bugs.” So, in how much danger are we really? Well, by the year of 2050, predictions have told us that at least 10 million people world wide will die from untreatable bacterial infections due to increased antibiotic resistance. 10 million is more than die from cancer each year.

Many antibiotics act on the cell division machinery, the divisome, by inhibiting essential enzymes. In my talk I will show what happens to the bacteria when you expose them to antibiotics, and how we are using the model Gram-negative bacterium E. coli and advanced microscopy methods to get a better understanding of the rules that governs the division event. This knowledge could in the end lead to the identification of new targets for antibiotics.

Refreshments will be served afterwards. We hope to see you there!
 

Sincerely,

Internal Seminar Organizing Committee:

Bianca Sieveritz
Rob Campbell
Maggi Mars-Brisbin
Yunhui Zheng
Jonathan Ward