ABSTRACT
Biofilms affect such disparate processes as bioremediation of toxic compounds, oral hygiene, souring of oil formations, microbially influenced corrosion (MIC), wastewater treatment, and the use of implantable prosthetic devices, causing the development of biofilm research in the related disciplines of science and technology. The two types of biofilmrelated research activities that have emerged from this complex picture are research devoted to understanding fundamental biofilm processes and research devoted to developing biofilm technology. Currently, the most active discipline in biofilm research devoted to understanding the fundamentals of biofilm processes is microbial ecology, in which biofilms are seen as highly organized structures of microorganisms having qualities comparable to those of tissues. Microorganisms in biofilms are not randomly distributed; instead, they aggregate in clusters resembling communities in which various microbial species have various tasks to accomplish, and they communicate with each other using chemical signals. This internal organization of bacterial biofilms, documented by confocal images and molecular probes, has stimulated imaginations and spawned new ideas, sometimes bordering on science fiction. New Scientist, the British science magazine, published an article in August 1996 emphatically comparing biofilms to cities built by microorganisms. This analogy reflects the popular image of biofilms as self-assembled microbial structures that are able to optimize their functions. Time has passed, and this paper is now a historical footnote, but the general idea it proposed not only survived but gained even more
traction when cell-cell communication in biofilms was discovered. Since the publication of the paper in 1996, chemical substances have been identified that are used by biofilm microorganisms to facilitate the exchange of information, a discovery that implies new possibilities in biofilm control. If these lines of communication could be intercepted, biofilms could be controlled in an entirely new way, and if such intervention is indeed possible, the implications go far beyond controlling biofilms. The research is ongoing, and it remains to be seen to what extent these expectations will be satisfied.
