For many people, viruses are a scourge; they cause illness and even death, and the mere mention of them, whether they are harmless or cause the flu, sends many reaching for the disinfectant wipes.
But to Britt Glaunsinger, viruses are a wonder.
"I love efficiency, and viruses are masters at efficiency," says Glaunsinger, a professor of plant and microbial biology and of molecular and cell biology. "The thing that captivated me initially about them was this idea that you can have an organism that has a million times less genetic information than the host that it infects. So something like Ebola, for example - seven genes! Those seven genes together devastate the human body."
As she explains in this 101 in 101 video, a series from UC Berkeley that challenges campus experts to distill their work into only 101 seconds, gaining a better understanding of how viruses work could allow us to create better health outcomes for patients.
As destructive as Ebola and some other well-known viruses can be, Glaunsinger is quick to point out that most viruses that live on us and in us cause no known disease.
Studying those viruses, Glaunsinger says, has taught us a great deal about how our own bodies work and has led to insights into the ways that cancer and autoimmunity can wreak havoc.
Glaunsinger's lab specializes in studying a herpes virus that can cause cancer. She and her lab are trying to understand how viruses can take over and reprogram gene expression in a cell.
"We try to understand it both so that we can find ways of stopping viruses like that, but also so we can understand how our own cells respond to pathogenic stress that can lead to chronic diseases," explains Glaunsinger.
Watch this video to learn more about Glaunsinger's work and why she believes UC Berkeley is one of the most exciting places to unravel the mysteries of microbiology.
Watch more 101 in 101 videos featuring UC Berkeley faculty and experts here.
