Research

The immune system of bacteria

We discovered over 50 new immune systems encoded by bacteria

Origin of human innate immunity

We discovered that many components of the human cell-autonomous innate immune system evolved from defense systems that protect bacteria from phage infection

How viruses overcome host immunity

We found that phages can evolve to escape or sequester bacterial defense systems

Evolutionary links between bacterial and plant immunity

We found parallels between the plant and the bacterial immune systems, involving immune protein domains called “TIR”.

Communication between viruses

We found that viruses can use small molecule communication to coordinate their infection dynamics and make group decisions

Legacy Research: CRISPR-Cas

In the years 2007-2016 we studied how the CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune system of bacteria works

Legacy Research: RNA-mediated regulation in microbes

For about a decade, during 2009-2018, we studied how bacteria use non-coding RNAs to regulate their biology

Legacy Research: Computational discovery of novel natural antibiotics

In the years 2007-2013 we developed a computational method that detects, among a large number of microbial genomes, genes producing products that are toxic to bacteria