Chapter 1 Introduction to Biofilms
Section 3 A Brief History of Biofilms
Page 5 Summary

Summary

Important Points

Important points from this section include these:

Other Notes

Biofilm Lifecycle

The study of biofilms has grown markedly in recent years due to increased awareness of the pervasiveness and impact of biofilms on natural and industrial systems, as well as human health. Biofilms cost the U.S. literally billions of dollars every year in energy losses, equipment damage, product contamination and medical infections. But biofilms also offer huge potential for cleaning up hazardous waste sites, filtering municipal and industrial water and wastewater, and forming biobarriers to protect soil and groundwater from contamination.

The complexity of biofilm activity and behavior requires research contributions from many disciplines such as biochemistry, engineering, mathematics and microbiology. New insights into the mysteries of biofilm are being published regularly in a wide variety of science and engineering journals.

As we said, if you find this interesting, there will be a place for you in this exciting and rapidly growing field. Read on.