A personal history of research on microbial biofilms and biofilm infections

Niels Høiby

doi:10.1111/2049-632X.12165

A personal history of research on microbial biofilms and biofilm infections

34 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The observation of aggregated microorganisms surrounded by a self-produced matrix adhering to surfaces or located in tissues or secretions is as old as microbiology, with both Leeuwenhoek and Pasteur describing the phenomenon. In environmental and technical microbiology, biofilms were already shown 80-90 years ago to be important for biofouling on submerged surfaces, e.g. ships. The concept of biofilm infections and their importance in medicine is, however, < 40 years old and was started by Jendresen's observations of acquired dental pellicles and my own observations of heaps of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells in sputum and lung tissue from chronically infected cystic fibrosis patients. The term biofilm was introduced into medicine in 1985 by Costerton. In the following decades, it became obvious that biofilm infections are widespread in medicine, and their importance is now generally accepted.

Original language	English
Journal	Pathogens and Disease
Volume	70
Issue number	3
Pages (from-to)	205-211
Number of pages	7
ISSN	2049-632X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/2049-632X.12165
Publication status	Published - Apr 2014

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title = "A personal history of research on microbial biofilms and biofilm infections",

abstract = "The observation of aggregated microorganisms surrounded by a self-produced matrix adhering to surfaces or located in tissues or secretions is as old as microbiology, with both Leeuwenhoek and Pasteur describing the phenomenon. In environmental and technical microbiology, biofilms were already shown 80-90 years ago to be important for biofouling on submerged surfaces, e.g. ships. The concept of biofilm infections and their importance in medicine is, however, < 40 years old and was started by Jendresen's observations of acquired dental pellicles and my own observations of heaps of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells in sputum and lung tissue from chronically infected cystic fibrosis patients. The term biofilm was introduced into medicine in 1985 by Costerton. In the following decades, it became obvious that biofilm infections are widespread in medicine, and their importance is now generally accepted.",

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AB - The observation of aggregated microorganisms surrounded by a self-produced matrix adhering to surfaces or located in tissues or secretions is as old as microbiology, with both Leeuwenhoek and Pasteur describing the phenomenon. In environmental and technical microbiology, biofilms were already shown 80-90 years ago to be important for biofouling on submerged surfaces, e.g. ships. The concept of biofilm infections and their importance in medicine is, however, < 40 years old and was started by Jendresen's observations of acquired dental pellicles and my own observations of heaps of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells in sputum and lung tissue from chronically infected cystic fibrosis patients. The term biofilm was introduced into medicine in 1985 by Costerton. In the following decades, it became obvious that biofilm infections are widespread in medicine, and their importance is now generally accepted.

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KW - History, 16th Century

KW - History, 17th Century

KW - History, 18th Century

KW - History, 19th Century

KW - History, 20th Century

KW - History, 21st Century

KW - Humans

KW - Microbiology

KW - Research

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A personal history of research on microbial biofilms and biofilm infections

Abstract

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