The Immune System of Bacteria: Beyond CRISPR
Event Details
- Type
- Friday Lecture Series
- Speaker(s)
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Rotem Sorek, Ph.D., visiting professor, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich; professor, department of molecular genetics, director, Knell Family Center for Microbiology, Weizmann Institute of Science
- Speaker bio(s)
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The arms race between bacteria and phages led to the development of sophisticated anti-phage defense systems. A flurry of recent discoveries showed that the microbial pan-genome contains over 100 defense systems whose function was so far unexplored. This talk will present progress in understanding the mechanisms of action of new defense systems, will highlight cases in which bacterial defense from phage gave rise to key components in the eukaryotic innate immune system, and will demonstrate how phages evolved to overcome bacterial immunity.
Rotem Sorek is a Professor at the Department of Molecular Genetics and the Director of the Knell Family Center for Microbiology at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He received his Ph.D. in Human Genetics from Tel Aviv University in 2006. Following post-doctoral studies at the Berkeley National Laboratories in Berkeley, CA, he joined the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2008.
Sorek investigates the molecular mechanisms protecting bacteria against viruses, collectively known as the "immune system" of bacteria. Sorek discovered that the human antiviral immune system has an ancient evolutionary origin in anti-viral defense mechanisms encoded by bacteria. His studies explained how the human antiviral innate immune system evolved, and helped characterize previously unknown immune mechanisms in humans and plants.
Professor Sorek is a co-inventor of over 40 patents and patent applications. He received numerous awards, including most recently the Rothschild prize (2024); the HFSP Nakasone award (2023), and the Max Planck-Humboldt award (2023). Sorek is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the European Academy of Microbiology, the European Molecular Biology Organization, and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.
This Friday Lecture will take place in Caspary Auditorium and virtually via Zoom. We recommend virtual participants log out of VPN prior to logging in to Zoom. Please do not share the link or post on social media.
- Open to
- Tri-Institutional