Editorial

摘要

It is well known that biological matter adheres tightly to surfaces;rnthe phenomenon is usually coined biofouling. It concerns nonspecificrnprotein adsorption or bacteria biofilm formation, amongrnother processes. For example, a medical device or an implant thatrncontacts blood undergoes non-specific protein adsorption, whichrnis the critical first event that initialises platelet adhesion andrnactivation, blood coagulation and, finally, the thrombus generation.rnAs far as bacterial biofilm formation is concerned, it is the finalrnstep to a sequence of phenomena starting with transport to thernsurface, followed by initial adhesion, attachment and quorumrnsensing-driven colonisation. Biofilms are not only extremely hardrnto remove, but they can provoke nosocomial disease if they occurrnin a hospital environment. These surface phenomena can be tackledrnwith surface engineering strategies, which rest on the understandingrnof molecular interactions operating at the material and biomoleculernor cell interfaces.