Colonies self-assemble: bacteria

1 of 3 Stromatolites growing in Yalgorup national park in Australia / C Eeckhout / License

Bacterial colonies that form stromatolites self-assemble by making independent decisions while maintaining communication.

Biomimicry Taxonomy

	Maintain community >
	Coordinate >
	Groups (self-organize)

Biomimetic Application Ideas

Mimicking quorum sensing and natural selection to efficiently route telecommunications.

> Visit strategy page

[Collapse all sections] Summary

"Stromatolites are colonies of bacteria that self-assemble into rock formations in tidal salt flats. Each stromatolite can make independent decisions, while maintaining communication with the colony. The workload is shared among all colony individuals. Stromatolites breed rapidly, and quickly develop resistance to antibiotics and other threats by developing new genes. Ian Marshall plans to incorporate these principles into the next wave of BT network management. Like the stromatolites, each element of BT's [British Telecom] network will be able to make independent decisions, yet will remain fully communicative with neighbors. Workload--i.e., incoming calls--will be spread evenly through the network. And in a process mimicking natural selection, desirable services will be quickly distributed to BT customers, while undesirable services die out." (Courtesy of the Biomimicry Guild)

About the inspiring organism

Bacteria
Bacteria

Organism/taxonomy data provided by:
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist

Bioinspired products and application ideas

Application Ideas: Mimicking quorum sensing and natural selection to efficiently route telecommunications.

Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Communications

Experts

Environmental Informatics
Ian Marshall
University of Lancaster

Centre for Biomolecular Sciences Quorum Sensing Research Group
Paul Williams, Steve Atkinson
University of Nottingham

References

Atkinson S; Williams P. 2009. Quorum sensing and social networking in the microbial world. J R Soc Interface. 6(40): 959-78.

Content tools

Curator of this page

Are you an expert on this topic? Apply to be a curator >

Comments

Thanks to Duarte Miguel Prazeres and Enrique Roitman for finding and uploading these amazing photos....

Read full comments >