b'Economic ImpactTHE ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF BIOFILMSECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCEECONOMIC IMPACT OF OF BIOFILMS STUDY BIOFILMS WEBPAGEWherever microbes either cause a problem or create an opportunity, to humans, animals or the environment, then the communities in which they live (biofilms) have a role to play. NBIC carried out a study to quantify the value of the markets in which biofilms are involved. The study titled Economic significance of biofilms: a multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral challenge was published in NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes in 2022. We estimate this global impact to be $5 trillion per annum. Our study has shown that although biofilms are diverse in their impacts on humans, animals and the environment, there are scientific and technological challenges that are common to many sectors as described in the NBIC interventional themes of Prevention, Detection, Management and Engineering (PDME). These common challenges underpin the need for the research and innovation occurring across all these sectors to be well connected as a community via NBIC, so that early breakthroughs can be exploited, and solutions from one sector considered in other fields. This is critical in order to achieve economic and societal benefits as well as developing the skills and knowledge scientists and technologists need to understand and solve both problems and the opportunities.We created eight infographics to reflect the results of this study, and to show the huge impact that biofilms have on our global economy. You can download the infographics and access the study from the Economic Impact of Biofilms page on our website. 26'