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Slime-like and near impenetrable are biofilms built by a number of bacterial cells during the course of an infection. Typically, they are composed of long molecular strands called polymers. Many different species of bacteria, among them dangerous pathogens like Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus, use biofilms to shield themselves against the host's immune system attacks and antibiotics' pharmacological mechanism of action. In Germany alone, 100,000 infections annually are related to bacterial biofilms. A joint research initiative by the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany, and the TWINCORE, Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, aims to target bacterial biofilms using Nature's own list of active ingredients.