[17] She began her career in science at 13 "as a veterinarian's assistant at the Miami Zoo and later at a local dog and cat clinic.

Bassler worked for UC Davis biochemistry and molecular medicine professor Frederic Troy, who assigned her to a bacteria research project.

[19] Her postdoctoral research was conducted at the Agouron Institute in La Jolla, California where she worked with Michael R. Silverman from 1990 to 1994.

[2] Since then, Bassler has also shown that bacteria use quorum sensing to differentiate self and other, a trait previously thought to be limited to more highly evolved organisms.

Bassler has developed anti-quorum-sensing strategies that, in animal models, halt infection from bacterial pathogens of global significance.

[22][23] Bassler's exploration of the ways in which bacteria communicate and behave collectively can be seen as contributing to a paradigm shift in how scientists view the microbial world.

[17] Bassler's lab focuses on intra- and inter-species communication, self versus non-self recognition, information transferring, and population level cooperation.