In labs, bacteria may swim freely, but out in the world, including our bodies, bacteria often exists packed together, dense communities called biofilms, and these configurations can help them cause illness.

　　Finding clues about how such bacteria group together could therefore lead better therapy to prevent infections and fight diseases. With that idea in mind, researchers looked at biofilms assembling bacteria notorious for causing infections in the urethra track and lungs of patients with ***. They scoured the genomes of different strains of the bacteria for genes that affect movement, and particular genetic mutations make the bacteria super-strong swimmers. That talent enables them to easily move away from each other, a phenomenon called hyper-swimming. Mutations thus also make it harder for bacteria to stick together into the biofilms associated with illness.

　　The study is in the journal cell report. A better understanding of how to keep bacteria apart could lead techniques for stopping biofilm formation which could translate into treatment for those diseases that depend on bacteria really getting stuck on each other.