title: Revealing a world of biofilms--the pioneering research of Bill Costerton.
abstract: Bill Costerton is recognized as the founding father of the field of biofilms, which is the study of microorganisms attached to surfaces. He was a true pioneer and was passionate about directly observing living complex microbial communities to learn how they function in different ecosystems. His multidisciplinary approach to the study of biofilms forged a common way of thinking about the ways in which microorganisms survive and function in the environment as well as in medical, dental, industrial, agricultural, engineering and other contexts. In this Essay, we outline some of the achievements that Bill made during his scientific journey.
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences, University of Swansea, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK.
authors.forename: Hilary
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lappin-Scott
authors.affiliation: Biosciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Burton
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Advanced Tribology, Faculty of Engineering, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK, and the Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity and the Department of Orthopaedics, Center for Microbial Interface Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stoodley
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms; D002170:Canada; D002450:Cell Communication; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D008829:Microbiology / Q000266:history*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States