According to -- Bassler BL . - Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, 08544-1014, USA. bbassler@molbiol.princeton.edu - That - Control of gene expression or the Quorum sensing, n response to cell density, is used by both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria to regulate a variety of physiological functions it involves the production and detection of extracellular signalling molecules called autoinducers. involves the production and detection of extracellular signalling molecules called autoinducers- Bonnie Bassler on TED.com | Main | A trickster's theory of everything: Emily Levine on TED.com » say that The TED Blog interviewed Bassler over the phone to talk about this secret, social life of bacteria. She told us why the chemical language evolved the way it did, what the applications of her research outside of medicine might be, and what the daily life of a scientist is like. Here’s a snippet: The fantasy is, since an anti-