Signal Jamming in the Fight Against Bacteria

http://www.biomimicry.typepad.com/newsletter/files/bioinspired_v5.1.pdf

A fairly recent development in the field of biomimicry has been the discovery that the red seaweed, Delisea pulchra can effectively avoid a wide range of bacterial infections without propagating any bacterial resistance. This article, written by Norbert Hoeller and Peter Steinberg, is published in the first issue of the fifth volume of BioInspired! It reviews the new mechanism by which we understand bacterial growth and replication as well as introduces a fairly significant discovery regarding the use of Delisea pulchra that may help treat bacterial infection.

Hoeller and Steinberg explain that scientists previously believed bacteria to be simple, free-floating cells whose rapid rate of reproduction led to infection, which then caused illness. However, it’s now known that in their natural environments, bacteria organize themselves into communities called “biofilms”. These biofilms form complex multi-cellular structures of cells, carbohydrates, DNA and proteins, and sometimes develop specific channels that can be used to transport nutrients and waste. In addition to having the ability to organize into complex structures, these bacteria can also detect and release chemical signals and in effect, communicate with each other, as the cells of a multi-cellular organism would do.

This finding has proven to be incredibly important, as it has preceded the discovery that biofilms can become more resistant to antibiotics than just free-floating bacteria alone. So, though this isn’t really the main point of the article, the magnitude of this discovery is, nonetheless, nothing short of incredible. For years we have thought of bacteria as these simple organisms that are very similar to viruses in the way that they mutate rapidly and, in regard to drug resistance, dangerously. But now that we know we’re no longer fighting off just bacteria, but living systems, with antibiotics, more solutions to treating infections can be researched.

This article pinpoints one way that we can gain control over these living systems. One of the article’s authors, Peter Steinberg, was on a scuba diving expedition when he discovered that a certain species of seaweed, Delisea pulchra, was oddly free of any fouling on its surface. After doing a little more research, Steinberg discovered this red seaweed had a way of preventing the creation of biofilms when bacteria landed on its surface. Over the past several years, this discovery has been adapted to the manufacturing world, specifically in the reduction of bacteria bio-film build-up on contact lenses. Additionally, solutions are being developed to control bio-films that cause corrosion of oil and gas pipelines, thereby reducing the need for biocides and mechanical cleaning of pipes.

There is really no argument regarding the great value of this discovery. Not only can this organism control disease as well as reduce the need for toxic biocides, it can also control bacteria without killing them. Thus, if the bacteria aren’t dying, there is no occurrence of natural selection, thus less harmful mutations to deal with. Additionally, in regard to the ability of Delisea pulchra to control bacteria, less money would be spent on antibiotics as well as hospital visits for antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. So, in regard to healthcare, this biomimetic would be far more cost-effective than most all pharmaceuticals.

Engineers Ask Nature for Design Advice

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/11/science/engineers-ask-nature-for-design-advice.html

For my first blog entry I’ve decided to start out with an article from the New York Times, entitled Engineers Ask Nature for Design Advice. I found this article on their website, written in the Science section for the December 11, 2001 issue of the newspaper. In the article, writer Jim Robbins provides a really straightforward, and unbiased introduction to emerging discoveries and future designs in the field of biomimetics. In the article he gives several examples of organisms in nature that have served as inspiration for scientists and engineers in the pursuit of solutions to common problems in manufacturing as well as medical science.

To be honest, before I found this article the most I knew about biomimetics was what is written in the introduction to this blog. Yes, I understood that this field of science is basically the mimicking of natural biological systems to be put to use in an engineering field, but the amount of that that relies on the ingenuity and creativity of the engineers was completely unknown to me. Although the biologists can supply the engineers with the way the system functions down to the very last chemical compound, the engineers have to figure out a way to apply this information to a product or technique that can then be used in the human world.

According to Robbins, biomimicry is not a new concept, but rather has been inspiring engineers for years. Hypodermic needles are shaped life the fangs of rattlesnakes, and Velcro is based off of the same principle as those annoying cockleburs that get stuck in your socks when you walk through a dry field. And you know those house paints that claim they don’t need to be cleaned earlier than five years after application? They’re not just making that up. It’s based off of the self-cleaning system of the sacred white lotus. The lotus has tiny points on its leaves that create a surface for debris to attach to, and an easy surface for water to run across to wash away any debris that has already settled. This concept was applied to paints, and truly is self-cleaning as promised.

It’s hard to find any opposition to this article, as there are no real harmful or disadvantageous aspects of biomimetics as a scientific field. It does require some trial and error that may cause the ineffective and inefficient use of an organism until better means of utilizing their desirable trait is determined. In the article Robbins exemplified this in his description of the muscles that were being targeted for their adhesive abilities. Ten thousand muscles were shucked and ground-up just to extract one gram of the protein that was necessary to make the adhesive. However, through research and development, a better method was obtained and scientists were able to become more efficient in the production of the adhesive.

Another notable part of the article was the quote by Janine M. Benyus, a science writer, saying “[Businesses] should find a way to create conditions conducive to life, not toxic to life”. Such a simple statement evokes a very powerful idea. When I think of factories and manufacture, I think of tall smokestacks, billows of black smog, and animals being forced to leave their already well-established environments in search of new areas to live. This is probably largely due to the presence of Dr. Seuss in my life as a child, and the fact that Fern Gully was undoubtedly my favorite movie from the ages of five to twelve. But to think that this is not the way that large-scale manufacture and production has to be is a revolutionary idea. Factories that work off of nature, not destroy it, is an incredible concept. This is the way it should have been all along. Humans and nature working hand in hand to grow and evolve, without destroying ourselves in the process.