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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Atlanta, GA | Posted: July 15, 2009
Brian Hammer, assistant professor in the School of Biology at Georgia Tech received a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study a cell-to-cell communication system that allows bacteria to "talk" to each other. Bacteria use this process, called quorum sensing, to synchronize their behavior and act like multicellular organisms. The Hammer lab is studying the role of quorum sensing in the environmental lifestyle of the aquatic microbe, Vibrio cholerae, which causes the fatal disease cholera. The grant also includes resources for a K-12 outreach program with undergraduate participation that was developed by Dr. Hammer to introduce concepts about bacteria and marine ecology to local elementary school students and teachers.