Biofilm Create! Competition 2023: Winners Announced

We’re pleased to announce the winners of our 2023 Biofilm Create! Competition.

We launched our first competition in 2021 as part of our #BiofilmAware campaign, which works to raise awareness of NBIC and its research, and the many societal and economic impacts of biofilms. We are pleased to announce the winners below.

The competition had two categories: photography and art, and was a great opportunity for members of the public, budding artists and photographers to explore biofilms in their everyday environments and is also a chance for scientists to look at creative ways of showcasing their cutting-edge research.

Thank you very much for everyone who took part. The quality of the entries in both categories were outstanding. Amazon gift cards were awarded to first (£500), second (£250) and third place (£125) in both categories.

You can view all of the entries we received in our Biofilm Image Gallery and Biofilm Art Gallery.

Photography Category Winners

1st Place: Mark Burton, University of Southampton

‘Furry Friends’

Description: A thick, dark biofilm has formed on an abandoned drink, and forms the foundation for the growth of a plethora of mould, established over many weeks. A biofilm is a group of microorganisms that include bacteria, yeasts or fungi, and protozoa, and accumulates on surfaces exposed to water and nutrients that support bacterial life.

2nd Place: Huan Ma and Xiayi Liu, University of Bristol

‘Bacterial planet‘

A long time ago, in a microbial universe far, far away…. There existed a drab planet where burning desert sands spread all over its surface, and red lava rivers roared deafeningly (left image). It appeared as though no microbes could survive on this harsh planet. However, life, even on a microscopic scale, has an uncanny ability to create miracles. Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis) discovered a way to thrive on this unforgiving planet. They migrated from the ground to the planet’s interior and established a thriving and vibrant bacterial metropolis (right image). In this underground bacterial city, each bacterium was interconnected by a network of extracellular polymeric substances, which facilitated the sharing of information and nutrients. Together, they formed a resilient, unified front against the planet’s hostile environment. The images were captured using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and false coloured using Adobe Photoshop. We immobilized L. lactis cells within polymer vesicles, allowing the bacteria to grow and form biofilms inside these vesicles. The resulting hybrid bacterial vesicles proved to be highly effective in the production of lactic acid. It offers a promising new approach to harnessing biofilms for various practical applications in our daily lives.

3rd Place: Sean Booth, University of Oxford

‘Chemotactic Carnage‘

As bacteria attach to a surface to form a biofilm, many cells burst, releasing red-stained DNA, which is a key polymer in biofilms. In this microfluidic cell, nutrients and time flow from left to right. A gradient of antibiotics from top to bottom counterintuitively attracts cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to crawl upwards. The antibiotic triggers the production of their own return fire ‘tailocins’ in elongated and blue cells, to attack the perceived competitor. These cells then burst, releasing their attack and red-stained DNA, which accumulates over time, filling the biofilm.

Art Category Winners

1st Place: Kelly Capper-Parkin, Sheffield Hallam University

Life and Death in Thread

Description: Wool stitching onto black fabric mimics both the alive and the dead cells of a biofilm formed by the wound pathogen P. aeruginosa. Based on an image captured by confocal microscopy, the biofilm layers cells upon cells and spreads further and further. A cautionary tale of the perseverance of wound infection causing bacteria.

2nd Place: Anna Romachney

‘Symbiotic Culture of Art‘

A textiles production of SCOBY which had been inspired by the gram stained images taken under a microscope of SCOBY I had grown. SCOBY stands for Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast and forms during Kombucha making. The kombucha can be drunk but the SCOBY shows potential for being a sustainable material in fashion.

3rd Place: Cerys Heys and Louis Cook, University of Southampton.

‘Bio Reel’

“Bio Reel” is an animation inspired by the process of biolfims forming. The music was created first, with the sequenced bass part reflecting bacteria gradually attaching to a surface. The sequenced bass part builds up with multiple notes – this has both a slightly random but structured feel, being a looping sequence but with lots of syncopation and no particular relationship between each note. This helps the electronic synth have a more natural feel but still represented the structured state bacteria within biofilms live in. The oscillating pitch on the pads reflects the movement of the biofilms, which involves extension and retraction. The visuals were initially created in response to the music, with the slide reel style and glitch aesthetic inspired by a slide reel we recently found in a charity shop, and the white noise generated by the Farfisa Organ emulator used in the music. The slightly creepy aesthetic follows my interest in surrealist and horror music. The visuals are based on bacteria attaching to a surface, losing their flagella and the biofilm growing across surfaces. We also took inspiration from quorum sensing, and created some zig zag lines in the visuals to try and represent this in an abstract way. We hope you enjoy!

Judging Panel

Our diverse panel of 5 judges took part in an unbiased and anonymous judging process.

We sincerely thank the judging panel for their time and efforts in supporting our competition.

Chris Denning: Director of the University of Nottingham’s Biodiscovery Institute.

Paul Maguire: Freelance Photographer, with a background in Earth science and exploration.

Tim Self: Head of School of Life Sciences Imaging (SLIM) from the University of Nottingham.

Catriona Clark: Art student from the University of Edinburgh.

Joanna Verran: Emeritus Professor of Microbiology from Manchester Metropolitan University.

Competition Organisers Picks

The organisers of the Biofilm Create! competition would like to give special mention to one entry from each category which were not awarded prizes on this occasion.

Art Category

Liam Matthew Jones, University of Southampton

Metal eating microbes

Description: A comic, titled ‘Metal eating microbes’, which is about how when microbes form biofilms they can become difficult to remove. In the energy industry this can lead to microbiologically influenced corrosion which causes significant damage and has a large associated cost.

Breseya Clark, University of Southampton

Phases of Biofilm

Description: Three watercolour paintings based on miscroscope images of biofilms versus the blooms and coating that can be seen on a petri dish. The way that the microscopic films are laid out is inspired by the phases of the moon, indicating how these biofilms build over time and will continue to do so as long as bacteria will form communities.

Photography Category

Brogan Richards, University of Nottingham

Like stars in a galaxy

Description: A. fumigatus spores grown in YPD overnight allowed to germinate and form hyphal networks imaged using phase contrast microscopy at 40X magnification.

Anna Romachney

Symbiotic Culture of Art

Description: Photograph of SCOBY grown which had been gram stained and looked at in more detail under a microscope.