Scientists manage to prevent biofilms forming on surfaces

Biofilms can stick to a myriad of surfaces and their presence can result in decreased energy efficiency, contamination of water and food supplies and persistent infections.

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 immobilised 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 build-up — textured surfaces, chemical coatings and antibiotics, for example,’ said Aizenberg, Amy Smith Berylson Professor of Materials Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). ‘In all those cases, the solutions are short lived at best. The surface treatments wear off, become covered with dirt, or the bacteria even deposit their own coatings on top of the coating intended to prevent them. In the end, bacteria manage to settle and grow on just about any solid surface we can come up with.’