Given that we already know that bacteria can “think” it probably shouldn’t be too surprising to know that they can also “walk.” Or maybe those two don’t necessarily go together, since the article has scientists dropping phrases like “totally shocking” (or maybe it’s “totally shocking” so that science journalists can sell the story to their editors – not unlikely!) In any case, kind of neat:
When most bacteria encounter a hard surface upon which they might form a biofilm, the bacteria stand up. And “walk” across the surface. “It was totally shocking,” said Jacinta Conrad, a chemical and biomolecular engineer at the University of Houston. Conrad and colleagues describe the phenomenon in a paper published in Friday’s issue of the journal Science…
To find nutrients bacteria must be able to move efficiently. Scientists have long understood how the microorganisms do this in water. And on surfaces scientists believed the bacteria would lay, lengthwise, and pull themselves along with grappling-hook-like tentacles called pili… But that’s not a good way of covering a lot of ground, or searching a wide area for food, Conrad said. What is an efficient way, apparently, is the standing up and walking observed by the scientists. This walking on a few pili allowed the bacteria to randomly cover much more space.
The engineering upshot of the experiment, presumably, will be to create surfaces that the bacteria can’t walk across (apparently a different task than creating surfaces that they can’t grapple across, ergo the study itself). If bacteria can’t explore a large area efficiently they won’t be able to join up to create biofilms, which would eliminate all the gunk around pipes and faucets. Not as life changing in a day-to-day way as the genetically engineered bacteria that break up the biofilms which cause cavities, but not exactly not clever.
References:
* Bacteria Seem To Be Doing A Lot Of Thinking These Days [Icon Index Symbol]
* Bacterial gunk walks on surfaces, scientists find [Houston Chron]
* Will Genetically Modified Bacteria End Dental Cavities? [Health Mantra]
Related Icon Index Symbol Categories:
* Science and Technology
* Biology and Evolution
* Geek
