Micro-crowdsourcing: How Swarming Bacteria Integrate Signals During Collective Migration

Watch a 48-minute scientific lecture exploring how bacteria communicate and move collectively, focusing on Proteus mirabilis bacteria found in human and animal intestines. Delve into the fascinating world of collective behaviors as UC Berkeley researcher Karine A. Gibbs explains how individual bacterial cells use identity-based signaling to coordinate their movements and form larger communities. Discover how these microscopic organisms, capable of moving micrometers per second individually and millimeters per hour as a group, navigate complex social interactions with both siblings and non-siblings. Gain insights into how bacterial identity, communication methods, and environmental factors influence their collective migration patterns, with implications for understanding both beneficial bacterial behaviors and potential disease mechanisms when these organisms move to other areas like the bladder.