Dr. Dantas discusses the present crisis of antibiotic resistance, its causes, and how this problem manifests itself in very different areas of the world. He explains the innovative technical and biological approaches of the Dantas Lab toward a solution to antibiotic resistance, including a possible cure for MRSA, a particularly deadly staph infection. Dr. Dantas also talks about the importance of serendipity in scientific breakthroughs.
Yvonne Stapp runs Science for the Public, a grassroots organization whose mission is to improve public understanding of science. Science is essential to the vitality of modern culture, and science depends on public commitment to the scientific community
Gautam Dantas, Ph.D., Professor of Pathology and Immunology, Biomedical Engineering, and Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Dantas combines genomic and computational technologies to reveal why antibiotic resistance develops so readily, making a number of diseases very difficult to cure. The Dantas lab has uncovered fascinating microbial mechanisms, important for both medicine and for science in general.