Talking Bacteria - Self Healing Materials

Available for over a year

Talking Bacteria Bacteria can do the seemingly extraordinary and talk to each other. How they communicate to regulate numbers, decide when is the best time to attack a host’s immune system or even see off rivals. Quentin finds out why listening in on their chemical chatter could provide new ways of tackling superbugs like MRSA. Quentin is joined by David Spring from the Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge and Steve Diggle from The University of Nottingham Quorum Sensing Research Group. Self Healing Materials Quentin Cooper enters the world of the minuscule to find out how materials that can sense damage from everyday wear and tear and heal themselves. Taking inspiration from the way blood flows around the body and how plants get water researchers are finding ways to look into the nano voids in materials to engineer planes and cars that can heal themselves. Quentin is joined by Ian Bond from the Department Aerospace Engineering at Bristol University and Frank Jones from the Department of Engineering Materials at Sheffield University.