Santiago López, Ph.D.

Research

In the Doudna lab, I will explore the role that bacterial immune systems play in sensing cellular stress or damage. Viruses threaten the lives of bacteria as well as humans, and bacteria have evolved a diverse arsenal of immune defenses designed to detect and combat viral infection. In human cells, antiviral systems often play additional, unrelated roles in cell physiology—for example, regulating cell division. Now, using cutting-edge techniques spanning molecular microbiology and genetics, structural biology, and metagenomics, I will determine whether bacterial antiviral systems also engage in molecular “moonlighting,” acting as sensors that alert microbes to the presence of antibiotics or other chemicals that damage their DNA or membranes. In addition, I will assess whether inactivating specific microbial antiviral systems can alter the composition of the microbial communities that reside in human and environmental microbiomes. My findings could point toward novel therapeutic strategies for eliminating drug-resistant microbes and for preventing the rise of opportunistic infections after cancer treatment.