This week on Microbial Mondays, this is all I've got: the topic of my PhD, explained jargon-free in 100 words. I was asked to sum it up for a course I'm taking through my graduate school. I always find that keeping things succinct is actually more difficult than writing a lengthy piece. So here is my mini-masterpiece for today:
You've heard about Marie Kondo, right? It turns out, so has every cell in your body. Just like your apartment prior to lockdown-cleaning, cells can accumulate unwanted stuff. For cells, however, this can be a life-or-death scenario. That unwanted stuff within cells can be dangerous - such as invading viruses. The good news is, cells have a built-in system for recycling that unwanted stuff. My research focuses on this system, termed autophagy, and on better understanding its mechanics in order to fine-tune autophagy during infections with HIV, Dengue virus, and SARS-CoV-2. I want to help your cells recycle their viruses.
Readers, what do you think? Comments and critiques are welcome. And, let me know if you like these bite-sized, jargon-free explanations. If you do, I can try to incorporate more of them in the regularly rolling Microbial Mondays content.
A longer post will be coming back next week! In the meantime, take care and have a great week.
~ Alex
“I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” ― Mark Twain
It is fascinating cells incorporate the processes to clean themselves and stay alive. Are some of the same cells in our bodies with us for our entire lives?
Hi Alex, I like simplified explanations! And I appreciate your summary here ... naturally I'm wondering what might impair or expedite 'autophagy'! - cheers, michael