J. Woodland “Woody” Hastings was the Paul C. Mangelsdorf Professor of Natural Sciences Emeritus in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University and a long time affiliate of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Hastings had life-long fascination with bioluminescence. Together with scientist Kenneth Nealson, Hastings discovered that bioluminescent bacteria could communicate and act as a group; a process Hastings called autoinduction. Studies of luminescence in fireflies and dinoflagellates, in turn led to work on the circadian cycle. Hastings was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. Sadly, Hasting died in August 2014, shortly after this recording. He was 87 years old.
J. Woodland Hastings describes how an interest in bioluminescence led to the discovery of bacterial communication or autoinduction, a process also known as quorum sensing. (Talk recorded in July 2014)
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