The Hypothesis Fund has awarded a prestigious seed grant to University of Utah biologist Talia Karasov, who researches the microbial weapons bacteria inflict on each other in an evolutionary arms race that might hold the keys to addressing the threat of antibiotic resistance.
An assistant professor in the School of Biological Sciences, Karasov and her lab investigate host-pathogen evolution and microbial genetics, shedding fresh light on bacteriophages, the viruses that infect bacteria. Her new research angle explores the biological role of tailocins, specifically seeking to discover whether genetics alone determines which bacteria survive and which die when targeted by these toxins from competing bacteria.
"Dr. Karasov was selected for her willingness to take a risk and go after a big idea. Her project, 'Is Tailocin Susceptibility Genomically Predictable?' asks a fascinating and bold research question, with the potential to reveal entirely new fundamental science," said David Sanford, the Fund's CEO and founder.
"This fund is really important for us because I don't think there's a funding mechanism where we could have gotten this kind of jumpstart," said Karasov, who is the U's first Hypothesis Fund grantee. "We're really interested in applying what we've learned from evolutionary biology and microbiology to try to develop new therapeutics and this is allowing us to do basic research without having to have real deliverables other than the research findings."
The new project homes in on the outer membranes of pathogenic bacteria, which are often swathed in a protective carpet-like covering.
"That dictates where a bacterium can live. For example, this outer layer of bacteria affects the conditions in which the bacteria can live. For example, this layer influences what antibiotics can kill the bacteria (and which have no effect), and which hosts they are able to colonize," Karasov said.
Bacterial species differ in the type of outer coating they make, which leads to strain and species-specific susceptibilities. Despite the importance of this outer covering for dictating whether a microbe will be, we are rarely able to infer. Scientists are not yet able to predict what kind of membrane a particular strain of bacteria has.
"That's important because if we want to treat it with various antimicrobials, we don't often know which is the appropriate one just from looking at the strain or from sequencing its genome," she continued. "We're trying to combine information on the genomes with information on the membranes to see if we can predict from the genome sequence what kind of membrane a strain has, thereby allowing us to apply an antimicrobial that will kill it."
Hypothesis Fund is a philanthropic research fund that seeks to advance scientific knowledge by funding early-stage, innovative research that increases our adaptability against systemic risks to the health of people and the planet. It funds research projects at their earliest stages, typically before preliminary data is gathered. The focus is on bold new ideas in basic research, not continuations of existing research.
"Karasov's project tests an early-stage, high-impact hypothesis: Genomic data can be converted into practical tools to forecast real ecological interaction outcomes," according to Hypothesis Fund Scout Harmit Malik, a scientist at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center who nominated Karasov for the Hypothesis Fund award.
Malik serves as one of the Fund's "scientist Scouts" who identify seed-stage research projects for support that would otherwise go unpursued or underfunded.
"The work has long-term value for basic science and, if the central hypothesis holds up, would be a major step toward directly addressing the systemic risks posed by antibiotic resistance and microbiome disruption," Malik said.
Banner image: This illustration from Talia Karasov's published research shows how tailocins attack bacteria. Image credit: Daniel Rouhani, University of Georgia.
