A graduate student from CNU has announced a technology that effectively inhibits pollution generated in water reuse processes.

Park Hye-yeon, an MS graduate at CNU (graduated on February 24, majoring in Biotechnology, supervised by Professor Lee Ki-baek), succeeded in developing a new technology called “AI-2 Quorum Sensing Inhibition Technology of Bacteria” to effectively control biological contamination occurring on the surface when membrane bioreactors are used in water reuse processes.

Quorum Sensing (QS) refers to the “communication among microorganisms using signal molecules.” When the number of organisms exceeds a certain threshold, the concentration of signal molecules detected surpasses a critical level, leading to phenomena such as biofilm formation and expression of pathogenicity.

The biofilm formation regulated by QS is not only related to 65% of all bacterial diseases but also leads to the corrosion or contamination of devices in contact with water for extended periods, thereby reducing the efficiency of water reuse processes.

The AI-2 QS signal of bacteria is a universal signal used by both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Suppressing this signal can prevent the formation of biofilms on solid surfaces.

This research was published in the Chemical Engineering Journal (top 3.2% in JCR, impact factor: 15.1).