Did you know that bacteria talk to each other?

You all know how a sleeping baby stretches out their hand to find you. Once they do, they move their cute little bum next to you and—thud!—place their tiny feet on you. It’s a baby’s way of starting communication (stretching their hands), perceiving (finding their mum’s neck), and responding (wiggling their butt closer). 

So, communication obviously includes sending out signals, perceiving responses, and reciprocating. We know we do it, we know animals in the jungle do it, and some of us even know that plants do it. Guess what? Even bacteria do it! This concept is called quorum sensing. 

In simple terms, bacteria release chemicals for others to sense, and vice versa. These signals (chemicals) help bacteria perform important tasks, like building a protective layer around their colony—also known as biofilm formation. 

Socializing bacteria (Image from google)

Scientists are racking their brains over this. Do you know why? Because, well, you know how selfish humans can be—we want to see how we can use this knowledge to use them as a shield for our own benefit. The first step is to understand quorum sensing so we can make it useful for us. Antimicrobial resistance, gut dysbiosis, cancer—you name it, and bacteria are involved. By tapping into this new knowledge, we might be able to fight these diseases more effectively.