phages, viruses which attack bacteria. This avenue of fighting bacterial infection was largely abandoned after the astounding success of antibiotics in the 20th century. But with the continuing rise of drug resistance, finding the naturally-occurring threats to stubborn bacteria could give modern medicine the edge again in the war on germs.
“I think we have to use the weapons bacteria use against one another,” said Kurepina. “We have to observe the natural processes of how they fight each other.”
AN EYE FOR DETAIL
Dr. Kurepina lives outside Manhattan with her husband. Before COVID-19, she was an avid traveler.
One of her passions recently are her cameras, and what she can see through the lenses. An accomplished photographer, her work can be found in places online – and also occasionally here on the CDI website. Her eye for detail in nature, as well as scenery and portrait photography, is artistically apparent.
Another reason for travel: her grown son in California, and two grand-daughters. That part of her family splits time between Russia and the United States.
Working at the CDI, the former home of the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology where she had planned to work nearly 30 years ago, seems like a full-circle return – even as the endless work continues, she said, between stints in the laboratory.