Bonnie Bassler
Bonnie Bassler
Bonnie Lynn Bassler is an American molecular biologist. She has been a professor at Princeton University since 1994. In 2002, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
CountryUnited States of America
Bonnie Bassler quotes about
dark bacteria humans
My bacteria glow in the dark - no human being doesn't like that.
motivation inspiration thinking
You think of yourselves as human beings, but I think of you as 99 percent bacterial.
motivation inspiration differences
[Bacteria] have an incredibly complicated chemical lexicon that ... allows bacteria to be multicellular. In the spirit of TED they're doing things together because it makes a difference.
goal moments scientist
The goal of scientists is you hope that the thing you're working on is bigger than the thing you're pipetting into that tube at the moment.
successful thinking keys
I think being open-minded about what Nature is trying to tell you is the key to being creative and successful.
war quality world
When antibiotics became industrially produced following World War II, our quality of life and our longevity improved enormously. No one thought bacteria were going to become resistant.
iron rocks bacteria
Bacteria mineralized the rocks; they deposited the iron. They made the geology we see.
bacteria except invisible seen
You can find bacteria everywhere. They're invisible to us. I've never seen a bacterium, except under a microscope. They're so small, we don't see them, but they are everywhere.
best drives filled good lab scientist screwed soon
Everybody, as soon as they do a good experiment, their first thought in this lab is, 'That can't be right. I must have screwed it up. What did I do wrong?' And that's the best kind of scientist because they're filled with this self-doubt. And if I'm going to be honest, that's who I am. And it's what drives me.
bacteria breathe breathing covered food moment mostly single time
Most bacteria aren't bad. We breathe and eat and ingest gobs of bacteria every single moment of our lives. Our food is covered in bacteria. And you're breathing in bacteria all the time, and you mostly don't get sick.
burst dad obvious point private sister thoughts win won
I called up and said, 'Dad, I won a MacArthur.' My father goes: 'I always thought your sister would win that,' and I said, 'Dad, just say congratulations and keep your private thoughts private.' At that point he laughed, then burst into tears, and it was obvious that he was so happy and proud.
albert einstein gogh van
So, okay, I'm not a genius. Vincent Van Gogh and Albert Einstein were geniuses.
believing days glorious hours indeed matter science
Science is difficult and slow no matter who you are. The hours are long, and the glorious 'aha' days come only very infrequently. You have to keep believing that if you put in the hours, those days will indeed come!
mostly
We mostly don't get sick. Most often, bacteria are keeping us well.