nationalsciencefoundation: From Slime to Solutions: Some alien…



nationalsciencefoundation:

From Slime to Solutions:

Some alien weed taking over planet Earth? Nope. This is an electron microscopy image of curli-based bacterial biofilms growing on a 0.2 mm diameter plastic bead. Researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute have developed a technology platform called Biofilm Integrated Nanofiber Display, or BIND, which repurposes the curli secretion machinery from E. coli to produce nanofibrous materials. BIND puts biofilms to work cleaning up polluted rivers, manufacturing new drugs and fabricating new textiles: bit.ly/2RKvysu

Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University