Meet the Sir Howard Dalton Young Microbiologist of the Year Finalists: Aisling Brady

Aisling Brady: PhD student

What is the title of your talk?

To lyse or not to lyse? Investigating the role of the arbitrium system in phage lysis-lysogeny decisions

What are your current research interests?

I am fascinated by evolution! To be more specific, I am interested in the interactions that go on between bacteria and their viruses (phages) and the molecular mechanisms that allow these organisms to co-exist.

How would you explain your research to a GCSE student?

Phages are viruses that infect bacteria. After infecting a host cell, the phage has an important decision to make: should it replicate to make more viruses and move on, killing the host in the process? Or should it stay put and remain inside the host cell? Some phages have a clever system called arbitrium that uses small chemicals to allow the phages to talk to each other. By communicating, the phages can make the right decision at the right time. My work aims to understand the genes involved in this system and their roles – like putting a jigsaw together!

If you weren’t a microbiologist what would you be?

A barista or a coffee roaster. I adore coffee and the variety that comes with it – whether that be the type of coffee, where it comes from, the method of brewing – I think it’s an amazing process. I also don’t think I could have made it through my PhD without it!