Many girls want to become scientists when they grow up, just like many boys do. But for these girls, the struggle to do what they love and to be treated with respect has been much harder because of the discrimination and bias in our society. InWomen in Microbiology, we meet women who, despite these obstacles and against tough odds, have become scientific leaders and revered mentors. The women profiled in this collection range from historic figures like Alice Catherine Evans and Ruth Ella Moore to modern heroes like Michele Swanson and Katrina Forest.
What binds all of these remarkable women are a passion for their work, a zest for life, a warm devotion to mentoring others-especially younger women-and a sense of justice and fairness that they are willing to fight tirelessly to obtain. Each story is unique, but each woman featured inWomen in Microbiology has done so much to expand our knowledge of the natural world while also making it easier for the next generation of scientists to work collaboratively and in an atmosphere where people are judged by their intellect, imagination, skill, and commitment to service regardless of gender or race.
Women in Microbiology is a wonderful collection of stories that will inspire everyone, but especially young women and men who are wondering how to find their way in the working world. Some of the names are familiar and some are lesser known, but all of the stories arouse a sense of excitement, driven by tales of new, important scientific insights, stories of overcoming adversity and breaking boundaries, and the inclusion of personal tips and advice from successful careers. These stories are proof that a person can live a balanced and passionate life in science that is rich and rewarding.
Nina Molin Høyland-Kroghsbo1
I was sitting, freezing cold, in an exceptionally large conference room in New Orleans at the 2011 General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. That year, Dr. Bonnie Bassler served as its president. I was especially excited for her talk. Finally, Dr. Bassler, also known as the “bacteria whisperer,” confidently walked on stage with her characteristic fast pace. She smiled warmly. She stood in front of a large screen depicting her favorite microbe,Vibrio harveyi, a bioluminescent marine bacterium. With energetic gestures and contagious passion, she pointed to a slide showing a lonely bacterium swimming all by itself, releasing cell-cell signaling molecules called autoinducers. Dr. Bassler explained that at low cell density, the autoinducers float away and the bacterium acts as an individual. Next, she pointed to a group of bacteria, all producing the autoinducers. “The bacteria grow in number, and since they all participate in making autoinducers, the extracellular concentration of the signal molecules increase in step with increasing cell number. When the molecules hit a certain threshold level, it tells the bacteria that they have neighbors, and, in synchrony, all of the bacteria turn on light production.” She could barely contain her excitement for the little critters. Her eyes sparkled as she described how, via a process called quorum sensing, many species of bacteria use different chemical languages to work together like multicellular organisms to accomplish amazing or terrifying things, depending on the bacterium. As the information soaked in, I was certain that I was finally in the right place in science.
For over 25 years, Bonnie Bassler (Fig. 1) has pursued her curiosity about the social lives of Earth’s smallest living organisms. She has been discovering and translating bacterial languages, teaching us about the intricate ways in which bacteria interact and coordinate behavior and demonstrating the profound importance of those interactions in nature.
Figure 1 Professor Bonnie L. Bassler. Credit: Alena Soboleva Photography.
The first time I talked to Dr. Bassler, she insisted that I call her Bonnie. Bonnie, who receives fan mail by real post, is remarkably down to earth. Working in Bonnie’s lab is fun and always full of surprises. New in her lab, I was pipetting away at my bench when Bonnie shouted my name from her office two doors away. I immediately removed my gloves and ran in her direction as quickly as my short legs could carry me. I wasn’t fast enough and she called again, louder. Slightly anxious, I entered her office figuring that I must be in trouble. It turned out that she had been thinking about a recent discussion of ours and wanted to talk about how my project was coming along and go over some new ideas for experiments. I quickly got used to Bonnie’s famous hallway calls. No one is ever in trouble, but it is pretty funny to witness the newest lab member when his or her name is first yelled down the hall.
Once, Bonnie came leaping down the hall whooping with joy. It was obvious that something amazing had just happened. We thought perhaps she had won a prize or received some great honor. No, her upcoming seminar trip had been canceled due to bad weather. Bonnie is in demand as a speaker. In this case, she had “won” several days with nothing scheduled on them. The extra time was immediately devoted to her lab gang and to their science. Everybody pipetted a little faster that day.
For Bonnie, her lab group is her family. Her office door stays open when she is in town, and she always stops what she is doing to make time to discuss science, to give career advice, or to talk about life challenges. She also has us to parties at her house to celebrate holidays and graduations. We take days off to go on field trips together. We are an ever-young group of people from a
