This webinar, part of the Microbes and Social Equity (MSE) Speaker Series, features Dr Landon Getz, a microbiologist and researcher in the Maxwell Lab. Bacteria are constantly under threat from phages—viruses that infect and often kill them. This session looks at how bacteria fight back, and what that reveals about cooperation, adaptation, and survival.
Focusing on Vibrio species, Dr Getz explores how integrons store and share phage defence tools—genes that can function like public goods, offering protection not just to individuals but to microbial communities. Drawing on recent research, he examines how these systems evolve under pressure, and what they tell us about genome plasticity and the future of phage resistance. The session opens up new ways to think about microbial life as deeply social and responsive to its environment.
The MSE Speaker Series highlights inclusive, interdisciplinary research in microbiology, and is open to AMI Members.
