New and Emerging Science and Technology (NEST) European project

http://www.ea-biofilms.org/

The European Community granted a financial contribution (NEST) for the implementation of the project Electrochemical control of Biofilm-forming micro-organisms : screening, identification, and design of new knowledge-based technologies. This project began on September 1st, 2004 and finished on August 31st, 2007.

This research allowed scientists to increase their understanding of biofilms, which form naturally on a wide range of surfaces. A multidisciplinary team of researchers from France, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Portugal, has set out, in an EU-funded project, to test a wide range of micro-organisms and identify those which are electrochemically active. Rather than growing new genetically engineered micro-organisms, as other research teams are doing, this team took advantage of natural biodiversity and tested existing microbial fauna. Over a period of two years, they screened a range of media, such as aerobic and anaerobic seawaters. Their aim was to identify the micro-organisms which form EABs through observing their behaviour on different electrodes.