There is a lab at Montana State working with to further develop many industries. The lab focuses on bacteria and cell formations called biofilms.
Dr. Paul Sturman the Industrial Coordinator and Research professor for the biofilms lab explains the industries that the lab works to benefit.
“So, the work we do has implications on all sorts of built systems like drinking water pipelines both municipal pipes and the pipes within your home. It also has implications for biofilms in the human body. We do quite a bit of work on that where bacteria can colonize foreign surfaces in the body more easily than regular human tissue. So, if you have an implanted device, anything from a catheter to a stint to an artificial hip there is potential that it could become infected with bio film, and if it does it is a much more difficult infection to clear than if you just had cells free floating within your body. So, it has enormous medical implications and doctors are aware of this and as are companies that are trying to combat biofilms through the development of antibiotics and other products that are intended to prevent infection. So, we do a lot of work with these companies to try to make better products for medicine.”-Dr. Paul Sturman
