Summary
Bacteria have the remarkable ability to swim upstream. This motion against fluid flows, called rheotaxis, enables bacteria to invade anatomical tracts and biomedical devices. Upstream swimming can lead to conditions including urinary tract infections and the contamination of catheters. This CAREER project will use experiments and modeling to reveal how bacteria can swim upstream against flows, how bacteria can navigate in complex flow networks, and how microbial communities can gain control over their hydrodynamic environments. Importantly, this project will also show how these processes can b
