Phages through the Ages: Past, Present, and Future of the Viruses that Infect Bacteria

Bacteriophages—the viruses that infect bacteria—were discovered by humans more than one hundred years ago; however, it took until the 1940s and the invention of the electron microscope for us to see them. Since their discovery, phages have played an important role in our understanding of the nature of DNA, have been used as tools for scientific discoveries in molecular biology and ecology, and have acted as therapeutics in our ongoing struggle against infectious disease. With an estimated global population of 10^31 and unprecedented genetic diversity, phages impact everything from the global carbon cycle to our food supply. This talk will trace the scientific and historical impact of bacteriophages from 1915 through today and beyond

About Welkin Pope

A native Cape Codder, Welkin Pope earned a BS in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a PhD in Biological Oceanography from the Joint Program between MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where her work focused on a marine bacterial virus (a bacteriophage) in the laboratory of Jonathan King. After graduate school, Pope moved to Pittsburgh to study the structure and diversity of bacteriophages at the University of Pittsburgh with Roger Hendrix. She joined the research faculty at Pitt in 2012. She also served as the Science Coordinator for the course-based authentic research and education program SEA-PHAGES under the leadership of Pitt professor Graham Hatfull, a program which has been adopted by more than 100 institutions globally and engaged 1000s of students. In 2020, Pope joined the faculty at Chatham University, where she continues to study the structure and genomic diversity of bacterial viruses, and to pursue her interest in STEM education research. Outside of science, she enjoys spending time with her husband, her two children, and their two dogs; taking adult dance classes, reading science fiction novels, building with LEGO bricks, hiking in the woods, and seeing local live theater.