{"675478":{"#nid":"675478","#data":{"type":"external_news","title":"The biophysical basis of bacterial colony growth","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGroundbreaking research is shedding new light on how biofilms grow \u2014 using physics and mathematical models. Biofilms grow everywhere \u2014 from plaque on teeth, to medical devices, to the open ocean. But until now, it\u2019s been difficult to study just what controls their growth. In a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41567-024-02572-3\u0022\u003Enew study\u003C\/a\u003E published in \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/em\u003E, researchers from the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/yunkerlab.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EYunker Lab\u003C\/a\u003E in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E, including Lead Researcher \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/aawaz-pokhrel\u0022\u003EAawaz Pokhrel\u003C\/a\u003E and Associate Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/peter-yunker\u0022\u003EPeter Yunker\u003C\/a\u003E, leveraged physics to show that a biofilm\u2019s geometry is the single most important factor in determining growth rate \u2014 more important than even the rate at which cells can reproduce. Since some research shows that 80% of infections in human bodies are caused by the bacteria in biofilms, understanding how colonies grow has important human health implications, potentially to help reduce their impact in medical settings or industrial processes. (This also appeared in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2024-07-geometry-life-physicists-biofilm-growth.html#google_vignette\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPhys.org\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.dentalreview.news\/dentistry\/19-dental-health-hygiene\/11095-biophysics-of-biofilm\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDental Review News\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.)\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EGroundbreaking research is shedding new light on how biofilms grow \u2014 using physics and mathematical models. Biofilms grow everywhere \u2014 from plaque on teeth, to medical devices, to the open ocean. But until now, it\u2019s been difficult to study just what controls their growth. In a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41567-024-02572-3\u0022\u003Enew study\u003C\/a\u003E published in \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/em\u003E, researchers from the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/yunkerlab.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EYunker Lab\u003C\/a\u003E in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E, including Lead Researcher \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/aawaz-pokhrel\u0022\u003EAawaz Pokhrel\u003C\/a\u003E and Associate Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/peter-yunker\u0022\u003EPeter Yunker\u003C\/a\u003E, leveraged physics to show that a biofilm\u2019s geometry is the single most important factor in determining growth rate \u2014 more important than even the rate at which cells can reproduce. Since some research shows that 80% of infections in human bodies are caused by the bacteria in biofilms, understanding how colonies grow has important human health implications, potentially to help reduce their impact in medical settings or industrial processes. (This also appeared in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2024-07-geometry-life-physicists-biofilm-growth.html#google_vignette\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPhys.org\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.dentalreview.news\/dentistry\/19-dental-health-hygiene\/11095-biophysics-of-biofilm\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDental Review News\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.)\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"36607","created_gmt":"2024-07-15 21:35:45","changed_gmt":"2024-07-17 18:48:34","author":"ls67","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","publication":"Nature Physics","field_article_url":"","publication_url":"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41567-024-02572-3","dateline":{"date":"2024-07-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-07-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"170021","name":"biofilms"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"170023","name":"biofilm"}],"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":""}}}