AROUND 1452 the first operational printing press was created, followed in 1799 by lithographic printing. Now, these inventions are reflected in the world’s first bacterial printing press.
The press will print live bacteria onto solid surfaces in precise patterns, a technique that may help explain how bacteria influence each other spatially. Understanding these relationships will help find ways of thwarting their attacks and using them to clean up pollutants.
For instance, bacteria sometimes form biofilms, unique communities of sticky, sugary plaques which cling to surfaces (Â鶹´«Ã½, 20 November 2004, p 34). In this state bacteria are better at…
