2 research outputs found
Using Competing Bacterial Communication to Disassemble Biofilms
In recent years, bacterial infections have become a major
public health concern due to their ability to cooperate between
single and multiple species resisting to various forms
of treatments (e.g., antibiotics). One form of protection is
through biofilms, where the bacteria produce a protective
medium known as the Extracellular Polymeric Substances
(EPS). Researchers are pursuing new multi-disciplinary approaches
to treating and kerb the evolving process of these
infections through the biofilms, to lower the humans' antibiotic
dependence that can result in the so-called \super-
bugs". Although various solutions have been proposed to
break biofilms, they are based on applying drugs or using
nanoparticles. In this paper, we propose an alternative
approach, where bacteria will cooperate and surround the
biofilms to consume the nutrients. By hijacking the nutrients
in the environment and blocking the
ow from reaching
the biofilms, this will lead to starvation, forcing them to
break their structure. Preliminary simulations show that a
small action radius of quorum sensing molecules is needed
to maximise bacteria attraction to a particular location and
create the protective wall. Therefore, this formation is capable
of speeds up biofilm dispersal process by two hours