Britt Glaunsinger, a professor of plant and microbial biology and of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, describes viruses as models of efficiency. “I love efficiency, and viruses are masters at efficiency,” said Glaunsinger. “The thing that captivated me initially about them was this idea that you can have an organism that has a million times less genetic information than the host that it infects. So something like Ebola, for example — seven genes! Those seven genes together devastate the human body.”
Glaunsinger’s comments were made as part of UC Berkeley’s “101 in 101” video series, which asks campus experts to explain their work in just 101 seconds. She emphasized that understanding how viruses function could lead to improved health outcomes.
While some viruses such as Ebola are known for their destructive effects, Glaunsinger noted that most viruses present in or on humans do not cause disease. Research into these viruses has provided valuable insights into human biology and contributed to knowledge about cancer and autoimmune diseases.
Her laboratory focuses on studying a herpes virus linked to cancer, aiming to uncover how viruses can take control of gene expression within cells. “We try to understand it both so that we can find ways of stopping viruses like that, but also so we can understand how our own cells respond to pathogenic stress that can lead to chronic diseases,” Glaunsinger explained.
The video featuring Glaunsinger is available through UC Berkeley’s platform alongside other episodes highlighting faculty research.
