Fighting back: tackling biofilms on the frontline of healthcare

But ask a person on the street to explain what they are, and you’ll likely get shrugged shoulders.

Without realising it, you actually see biofilms everyday – examples include dental plaque, slime on rocks in streams and pond scum.

A biofilm is formed when numerous living microorganisms, such as bacteria or fungi, group together and then evolve and grow as a collective.

Antimicrobial resistance: a call to arms

Biofilms are often detrimental, with biofilm infections estimated to be responsible for up to 80 per cent of all infections in humans and animals.

Gaining a greater understanding of the composition of biofilms and how to prevent, detect, manage and engineer them, would present benefits across a range of sectors, particularly in the healthcare industry where managing infections effectively is a growing issue globally.

To tie in with the National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC)’s #BiofilmAware campaign, The Engineer has teamed up with Loughborough University to explore three areas of research looking to help in the battle against biofilms.