Attacking stressed mixed-species biofilms with Wi-Fi

• Main Author: Thomas, Louiis Kishen
• Other Authors: Christopher Shearwood
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/71729
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Our body contains various types of bacteria that affect our bodily functions. In nature, most biofilms are formed by a mixture of various bacteria and not just one type of bacteria. Hence, there is a need for more research on mixed-species biofilms, rather than just single-species biofilms. Wi-Fi is an electromagnetic wave of typically 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz. Wi-Fi exposure to human beings is a prevalent topic of discussion in today’s society as many of our daily activities involve the use of Wi-Fi. It is unclear if Wi-Fi has a negative impact on our health, as there is no clear understanding at the moment as to how different species of bacteria that coexist within our body are affected by the amount of available nutrients in our bodies and also Wi-Fi radiation. This project aims to identify the effect of Wi-Fi and nutrient concentration on 3 different bacteria that were mixed together. The mixed-species bacteria that were used and studied in this project were Klebsiella Pneumoniae (KP-1), Pseudomonas Aeruginosa (PAO1) and Pseudomonas Fluorescens (Pf-5). KP-1, PAO1, and Pf-5 were cultivated in N96 plates containing M9 and left to stand for 24 hours in two different conditions, one at a temperature of 25°C with no Wi-Fi radiation, and the other at a temperature of 25°C with Wi-Fi radiation. After the 24 hours, the characteristics of the biofilms that formed were recorded and analysed. The results showed that Wi-Fi had no conclusive effect on the growth of Plankton and Biofilm, but differing Magnesium and Calcium concentrations in the medium did affect the growth rate of Plankton and Biofilm.