{"668522":{"#nid":"668522","#data":{"type":"external_news","title":"Cooperation and Cheating","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECooperation is everywhere. Cells cooperate in multicellular organisms, individuals cooperate in societies, and different species cooperate. Why would it not be the case that microbes cooperate with each other? Researchers have known for more than 20 years that bacteria participate in collective behaviors such as forming biofilms and acquiring nutrients from the environment. But being part of a cooperative group does not necessarily mean that every individual bacterium plays by the rules. Occasionally, cheaters arise. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/stephen-diggle\u0022\u003ESteve Diggle\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E and director of Georgia Tech\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/microdynamics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ECenter for Microbial Dynamics and Infection\u003C\/a\u003E, weighs in on what keeps microbial cheaters from ruining biofilm structures.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECooperation is everywhere. Cells cooperate in multicellular organisms, individuals cooperate in societies, and different species cooperate. Why would it not be the case that microbes cooperate with each other? Researchers have known for more than 20 years that bacteria participate in collective behaviors such as forming biofilms and acquiring nutrients from the environment. But being part of a cooperative group does not necessarily mean that every individual bacterium plays by the rules. Occasionally, cheaters arise. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/stephen-diggle\u0022\u003ESteve Diggle\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E and director of Georgia Tech\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/microdynamics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ECenter for Microbial Dynamics and Infection\u003C\/a\u003E, weighs in on what keeps microbial cheaters from ruining biofilm structures.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2023-07-19 17:55:08","changed_gmt":"2023-07-19 17:55:08","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","publication":"The Scientist ","field_article_url":"","publication_url":"https:\/\/www.the-scientist.com\/features\/cooperation-and-cheating-71118","dateline":{"date":"2023-06-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-06-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"168156","name":"Steve Diggle"},{"id":"192003","name":"Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection (CMDI)"},{"id":"170021","name":"biofilms"},{"id":"7572","name":"microbes"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}