Staff profile

After Darwin, biological science has largely focused on understanding mechanisms underpinning life, whilst processes surrounding death have been notably unexplored, despite death being ubiquitous and fundamental for life. When (micro)organisms die, their biomolecules are recycled in the ecosystem, particularly as a starvation response, making biomolecule recycling crucial for the growth of new microorganisms. However, understanding of death and the associated nutrient recycling pathways remains limited, although recent studies have uncovered significant biochemical activities which emerge in bacteria after death and are vital for nutrient recycling.

The project, titled ‘A bacterial biochemical mechanism that functions after death’, aims to address fundamental questions in bioscience regarding the mechanisms underlying the newly identified post-mortem biochemistries. This will also explore how these biochemical processes can evolve after death, opening new avenues in evolutionary biology. Finally, the project will investigate the potential applications of these post-mortem biochemistries in industrial and biomedical contexts, focusing on how they can influence bacterial population dynamics.