Biofilm research has grown exponentially over the last decades, arguably due to their contribution to hospital acquired infections when they form on foreign body surfaces such as catheters and implants. Yet, translation of the knowledge acquired in the laboratory to the clinic has been slow and/or often it is not attempted by research teams to walk the talk of what is defined as ‘bench to bedside’. We therefore reviewed the biofilm literature to better understand this gap. Read more about Congratulations Liraz on your new publication in Biomaterials!

Biofilms are multicellular heterogeneous bacterial communities characterized by social-like division of labor, and remarkable robustness with respect to external stresses. Increasingly often an analogy between biofilms and arguably more complex eukaryotic tissues is being drawn. One illustrative example of where this analogy can be practically useful is the process of wound healing. While it has been extensively studied in eukaryotic tissues, the mechanism of wound healing in biofilms is virtually unexplored. Read more about Congratulations Mnar on your latest publication in Soft Matter!

Biomineralization describes the process of mineral precipitation from soluble precursors by living organisms. It is sometimes associated with single bacterial cells, for example, the formation of magnetosomes by magnetotactic bacteria, as well as with groups of bacterial cells that form biofilms and precipitate calcium carbonate (CaCO₃). Recently, there has been growing evidence connecting isolated bacteria and bacterial biofilms with calcium oxalate (CaOx) formation in kidney stones. Read more about Congratulations David on your latest publication in Crystal Growth and Design!

Biofilms are surface or interface-associated communities of bacterial cells, embedded in a self-secreted extracellular matrix (ECM). Cells in biofilms are 100–1000 times more resistant to antibiotic treatment relative to planktonic cells due to various reasons, including the ECM acting as a diffusion barrier to antibiotic molecules, the presence of persister cells that divide slowly and are less susceptible to cell-wall targeting drugs, and the activation of efflux pumps in response to antibiotic stress. Read more about Congratulation Shahar your latest publication in RSC Medicinal Chemistry!