W.M. Keck Foundation Gives $800,000 to MSU Biofilm Center

by Carol Schmidt
MSU Communications Services

8/08/00 - Bozeman --- An $800,000 gift by the W. M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles will fund a new multidisciplined research team at Montana State University's Center for Biofilm Engineering that will further explore the constructive and destructive roles of the films so prevalent in contemporary life.

MSU Foundation officials announced the gift today from one of the nation's largest philanthropic organizations. It will fund scholarships for graduate and undergraduate students as well as fund the W. M. Keck Foundation Research Team on Microbial Biofilm Development. The team will be composed of up to 20 undergraduates, seven doctoral students, as well as faculty advisors and an advisory council of distinguished national scientists and engineers from several scientific and engineering disciplines. The team will be assembled by the spring and for four years will look at biofilms from several angles --genetic, chemical, physiological, and mechanical -- with the hope of eventually weaving those multiple views into a singular picture of biofilm formation as a developmental process

"We are beginning to understand that bacteria are not the primitive, independent single cells as has long been thought," said Phil Stewart, CBE deputy director and chemical engineering associate professor. He explained that when bacteria gather in biofilms, they cooperate, interact, and differentiate in complex ways and the Keck project will explore the multicellular nature of life in a bacterial biofilm by investigating the many ways bacteria interact in a biofilm.

"New technologies for controlling the troublesome biofilms that grow in drinking water pipes, contact lenses, and implanted medical devices will blossom when we understand, and then manipulate, the developmental cycle of biofilm microorganisms," Stewart said. "No other biofilm research group anywhere has the comprehensive expertise needed to attempt this type of project."

For many years, MSU scientists have studied the ubiquitous biofilms found on nearly every surface where bacteria and water meet. Common forms of biofilms include plaque that forms on teeth, and "gunk" that clogs drains. Once anchored to a surface, biofilm microorganisms carry out a variety of detrimental or beneficial reactions (by human standards). Microbial biofilms on surfaces cost the nation billions of dollars yearly in equipment damage, product contamination, energy losses and medical infections. Conversely, they also offer opportunities for positive industrial and environmental effects, such as bioremediating hazardous waste sites, biofiltering industrial water, and forming biobarriers to protect soil and groundwater from contamination.

In 1990, the MSU Center for Biofilm Engineering was established with support from the National Science Foundation as one of its Engineering Research Centers. Key mandates for the center are interdisciplinary education, cutting edge research, and interactions with industry. According to the NSF, MSU's biofilm center is one of the nation’s most successful centers because of breakthrough research, educational model and highly recognized faculty.

The CBE fits in well with the mission of the Los Angeles-based Keck Foundation. With assets of $1.7 billion. the 46-year-old Foundation's grantmaking is focused primarily on the areas of medical research, science, and engineering at higher education institutions. Reflecting founder William Myron Keck’s life as a pioneer, innovator and risk-taker, the Foundation seeks out research which opens new directions and could lead to breakthrough discoveries and the development of new technologies.

Send questions or comments to Carol Schmidt: cschmidt@montana.edu. Or you can send
letters to Carol Schmidt, MSU Communications Services, 416 Culbertson Hall, Bozeman,
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