National Biofilms Innovation Centre

Microbial biofilms and communities represent, collectively, the largest biomass on the planet, with an estimated 96% of microbes on Earth found in microbial biofilms and communities rather than in a free-swimming form. Biofilms play major roles in the biology of the natural and built environments, and in maintaining public health. They are one of the biggest causes of hospital-acquired infections and can cause chronic disease.

In addition to their well-recognised role in infection and disease, they can underpin or disrupt a wide range of industrial sectors: from food and drink to oil and gas, and from the marine industries to the built environment. The annual economic significance and impact of biofilms has been estimated at ~$3,900 bn globally (approx. £45 bn in the UK).

The National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC) is a pan-UK Innovation and Knowledge Centre established to connect the expertise of the UK's academic community with end users in industry and the third sector. By bringing together the UK's strength in biofilm research, and combining it with the expertise of industrialists, NBIC aims to deliver new solutions and breakthrough technologies that will have an impact on day-to-day lives.

During Phase 2, as NBIC matures, we will harness the large academic and industry user base brought together over the last 4 years to focus on the development of new technologies for the prevention, detection, management and engineering of biofilm communities. We will draw on the best of our scientists and engineers to determine how best to safely design surfaces that prevent biofilms, establish methods to determine whether a problematic biofilm is present, create protocols for managing biofilms safely when they cannot be eradicated, and determine how to engineer biofilms for maximum benefit. We will do this by establishing ways of measuring biofilms that can be widely shared with the community, using advanced techniques and computational tools at our disposal. By leveraging our national connectivity, we will also establish uniform standards that can be used to guide the regulatory environment around biofilm control and exploitation.

As the predominant biomass on the planet, biofilms are susceptible to the changing environment driven by global warming, and will play an important role in new sources of energy generation. As climate change progresses, biofilm communities that are important to food and water security will also change, in ways that it is difficult to predict. As our infrastructure changes to adapt to a NetZero world, new biofilm challenges will inevitably arise.

By harnessing the strengths of our disparate community, comprising biological and physical scientists, engineers, mathematicians, social scientists, clinicians, industrialists and entrepreneurs and by training the next generation of scientists who can address complex biofilm research questions, we will place the UK at the forefront of the effort to mitigate these global challenges, leading to a sustainable and prosperous UK.

Our research and innovation strategy will address key fundamental biofilm challenges identified through our engagement activities across our Prevent, Detect, Manage and Engineer themes, enabling us to deliver global impact across sectors (e.g. healthcare, personal care, climate change, NetZero, food and water safety/security).
We have identified key cross-cutting biofilm research and technology development challenges for delivery in Phase 2, including:

-A linked platform of integrated imaging techniques across scales (from atoms to biofilm communities) across physical, engineering and life sciences.
-Real-time, non-destructive monitoring and advanced imaging technologies and biomarkers for biofilms.
-Integrated multi-'omics to understand polymicrobial biofilm interactions.
-Spatially resolved and addressable delivery and monitoring of new biofilm interventions.
-De novo engineering of polymicrobial communities for targeted, sector-specific applications.
-Driving synergy between biofilm standards, policy making and strategic research, responding to the needs of our national and international academic-industry community.
-Developing a roadmap for new biofilm biobanking resources and infrastructure, which have been identified by our community as critical to underpin basic science programmes as well as accelerate product development and commercialization.
-Working with relevant national partners the way biofilms power microbiomes in preparation to develop a platform of translation and innovation in this field.

In training, Phase 2 will combine our current Doctoral Training Centre in Biofilms Innovation, Technology and Engineering (BITE) with a new BBSRC funded industry-led CTP programme to launch a national CTP-BITE training programme in Oct 2022. This will be the UK's first graduate training centre to address the skills and knowledge gap in the biofilm field. Our training will be accessible to industry to ensure cross-sectoral industrial upskilling.