Nicolas Biais, Brooklyn College

Host: Holger Sondermann

Superheroes of the Human Microbiota and Beyond: an introduction to Mechano-Micro-Biology

Each of us has, in all likelihood, more bacterial cells in us and on us than our own cells. While scientists have studied bacteria free swimming in liquid for centuries, we have come to realize more recently that most bacteria live attached to surfaces and each other in dense communities called biofilms. We will show here how physical forces between bacteria and between bacteria and surfaces whether abiotic or not shape the physiology of those interactions. From motility to antibiotic resistance, bacterial physical forces emerge as a key factor. 

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