Story time! (1/11) time to tell you all how I fell in love with #Microbiology #MyMicroStory #BlackInMicro
I grew up on a small farm in the rural South, and the first time that I became truly fascinated with microbes was when mad cow disease (a.k.a. bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE) began to spread to humans (in the late 90s, I believe. (2/11)
We had about 30 head of cattle and my parents began to freak out and sold them all. They weren't sure how to describe the cause, but they knww it was some sort of infectious agent. I was both terrified and fascinated! (3/11)
Fast forward to college and I joined a bacteriology lab because I wanted to do something science-y to fill my time. We studied antibiotic resistance, & I loved the work!
Pretty soon, I realized that the bug we were studying was very closely related to Bacillus anthracis. (4/11)
You all may be more familiar with the toxin made by these bugs, ~anthrax~
This was the start of a very long Google rabbit hole in which I became absolutely fascinated with microbes, how they cause disease, and how our immune system fights to ward them off. (5/11)
I also knew I wanted to help people using science, and this seemed like the perfect field to go into due to the tremendous global health burden. (6/11)
Over the past few years, I have studied arboviruses, parasites, bacteria, and all three as a part of the microbiome work I've done. I will *FOREVER* be in awe at how incredible these bugs are.
So much has been discovered, yet there is still SO much we don't know! (7/11)
Some microbiologists study microbes within the context of human health and wellness by investigating commensal microbes and/or pathogens. (8/11)
Others are simply fascinated with their biological processes, and these basic inquiries have led to the discovery of amazing molecular biology tools such as Taq polymerase, restriction enzymes, and CRISPR-Cas9. (9/11)
And then there are others who study biofilms, biofuels, and many other cool characteristics of different microbial species (10/11)
I am honestly honored to have the opportunity to study some of the most simple, yet complex organisms on the face of the planet.
And I'm so happy that the contributions of the many intelligent Black microbiologists are being highlighted this week! (11/11) #BlackInMicro
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