Roundup Record Tribune & Winnett Times -

Marshall Swearingen, MSU News Service

BOZEMAN — The microbial slime called biofilm causes hundreds of billions of dollars annually in metal corrosion to pipelines and other infrastructure. Biofilm in urinary catheters accounts for an estimated 30% of all hospital-related infections, resulting in as many as 13,000 deaths per year. Biofilm is a factor in outbreaks of foodborne E. coli, as well as a routine source of household frustration, clogging sink drains everywhere.

Yet until recently there wasn't much of a concept of — or even a name for — the diverse microbial communities that fo...