Giving slime the slip
Biofilms may no longer have any solid ground upon which to stand. A team of Harvard scientists has developed a slick way to prevent the troublesome bacterial communities from ever forming on a surface. Biofilms stick to just about everything, from copper pipes to steel ship hulls to glass catheters. The slimy coatings are more than simply a nuisance, resulting in decreased energy efficiency, contamination of water and food supplies, and — especially in medical settings — persistent infections. Even cavities in teeth are the unwelcome result of bacterial colonies. In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), lead co-authors Joanna Aizenberg, Alexander Epstein, and Tak-Sing Wong coated solid surfaces with an immobilized liquid film to trick the bacteria into thinking they had nowhere to attach and grow. “People have tried all sorts of things to deter biofilm buildup — textured surfaces, chemical coatings, and antibiotics, for...