Biofilms are responsible for billions of dollars in production losses and treatment costs in the industry every year. Biofilm-related problems are major concerns in the food industry where they can cause food spoilage or poisoning, in health industry due to the dispersal of pathogens, or in the oil and water industry where they induce corrosion. Assuming that the environment is already over-saturated with harmful chemical products with indubitable long-term health effects there is a great need for novel solutions to reduce detrimental biofilm effects.

To reduce the use of biocides, the INSA-Lyon iGEM team aims to engineer “torpedo” bacteria able to destroy biofilms formed on industrial pipes or reservoirs. Industrial piping systems will then be protected from further deleterious contamination by either a surfactant coating, or the establishment of a probiotic biofilm.

Our experimental model consists of Staphylococcus epidermidis as the detrimental biofilm, and Bacillus subtilis as the “Biofilm Killer” agent. Three complementary modules will be constructed to arm our “Biofilm Killer” strain:

Bacilli strains are non-pathogenic, and do not cause equipment degradation by corrosion : their attachment on surfaces appears as a good solution to prevent the formation of new dangerous biofilms. This project provides a potential cheap, permanent and environmental-friendly solution for unwanted biofilm development.