Biofilm

Many persistent sinus infections involve biofilms – colonies of bacteria that group together to resist efforts to kill them. Now, researchers have developed biofilm-blasting bots that could handily deal with these, and other, bacterial infections.

It's never a good thing, when a bacterial biofilm forms on the surface of a medical implant. There could soon be a new way of eradicating such films, however, using tiny remote-control liquid-bodied robots.

Research has found that iron levels trigger the formation of a kind of ‘memory’ in bacteria that drives their subsequent behavior and is passed on to their progeny. The discovery could help prevent bacterial infections and address antibiotic resistance.

Ordinarily, when treating chronic wounds, caregivers go to great lengths to keep them free of bacteria. An experimental new dressing, however, actually introduces bacteria to help such wounds heal.

E. coli is arguably the most well-studied organism on Earth, but scientists have now discovered a new behavior that’s almost never seen in bacteria. The normally single-celled organisms have shown signs of previously unknown multicellular phases.

Researchers at Hong Kong Polytechnic University have devised a method of trapping tiny plastic particles using a sticky bacterial biofilm, which they hope could find use in wastewater plants to prevent them from entering the ocean.

Microplastics are increasingly found polluting waterways and causing unknown damage to the health of animals and humans. Now, a new study provides evidence there's cross over with another looming public health threat – antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

When bacteria colonize the surface of items such as medical implants, they form antibiotic-resistant coatings known as biofilms. Scientists have devised a new way of removing such films, and it involves magnetically steering augmented tea plant buds.

A Medieval medical book hold the key to new ways to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Scientists have found that a medical recipe from the ancient Bald's Leechbook is effective against five strains of bacteria that cause biofilm infections.

Bacteria tend to build colonies behind barriers known as biofilms, which are hard for antibiotics to penetrate. Now, researchers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have developed a hybrid antibiotic that can punch through some biofilms.

An incredible study has demonstrated the potential of a wound dressing that can fight bacterial infections using a weak electrical field. Offering a novel way to battle antibiotic-resistant infections, the dressing has been approved by the FDA and is currently being tested in human burn patients.

Tuberculosis is currently curable, but the bacteria responsible for it are fast evolving resistance to our antibiotics, thwarting attempts to keep the disease under control. Scientists have found a new compound that can boost the power of existing antibiotics and even reverse the bugs’ resistance.