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BBiofilm ideas through time

Biofilms — Surface cities of microbes — plaque and catheters explain persistence, without a grow-your-own kit.

At a glance
Timeline

Milestones in order. This is history, not a weekly activity grid.

1676 Animalcules on teeth16761933 Zobell marine films19331978 Costerton coinage19781982 CF lung ecology19821990s Quorum sensing boom1990s2003 NIH biofilm note20032010s Device bundles2010s2020s Spatial imaging2020s
  1. Animalcules on teeth
  2. Zobell marine films
  3. Costerton coinage
  4. CF lung ecology
  5. Quorum sensing boom
  6. NIH biofilm note
  7. Device bundles
  8. Spatial imaging
Score intensity

Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.

Last reviewed Sources & creditsMedia creditsMethodology

Quick answers

Where should I start with Biofilms?

Read Identity → How they live → Body & health, then use compare rails.

Is this page advice for Biofilms?

Public-health education — not a care plan, prescription, or outbreak briefing.

What does the local lens add?

It names everyday desks for Change & defence before English norms look universal.

Are the scores a ranking of Biofilms?

No — editorial 0–100 browsing aids inside this atlas only.

How do I compare Biofilms to neighbours?

Use related cards and best-of / quiz rails after the first three chapters.

Which chapter is densest?

How they live and Body & health carry mechanisms; skim Identity first.

Start with this section - History

People saw living specks on teeth in the 1670s. The word and the medical theory arrived much later.

Hospitals learned that some culture-negative infections were films poorly sampled by a swab of floating cells.

Timeline

1676Animalcules on teeth

van Leeuwenhoek describes motile specks from dental plaque.

1933Zobell marine films

Claude Zobell studies bacteria attaching to submerged surfaces.

1978Costerton coinage

The modern biofilm concept is framed for medicine and industry together.

1982CF lung ecology

Work on Pseudomonas in cystic fibrosis popularizes persistent-film thinking.

1990sQuorum sensing boom

Chemical conversation in films becomes a major research theme.

2003NIH biofilm note

US agencies highlight biofilms in chronic infection research agendas.

2010sDevice bundles

Insertion checklists cut catheter bloodstream infections.

2020sSpatial imaging

Better imaging and sequencing show mixed-species architecture in plaque and wounds.

History is about noticing architecture, not about how to grow it.

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