Microorganisms may be too small to see, but they are everywhere around us—and inside us. In fact, the number of bacteria living in our body is roughly the same as the number of human cells we have. These tiny companions keep us healthy by aiding digestion, defending against harmful germs, and even shaping how we feel. Just as importantly, microorganisms sustain the environment by recycling nutrients, enriching soil, and purifying air and water. They make life possible on both our bodies and our planet.
Most microorganisms live in tiny porous spaces, much like we live in houses or shelters. These pores give them protection from predators and help keep their surroundings stable and comfortable. At the same time, living in such tight spaces also brings challenges: limited room to grow, slower access to nutrients, restricted movement, and even physical pressure from the surrounding walls. Yet microorganisms find ways not just to survive, but also to spread and flourish in these confined spaces. The clever strategies they use remain a source of fascination and inspiration for scientists.
But many of these strategies are still a mystery. How do such small organisms overcome the physical limits of the environments they inhabit? What rules guide their movements and choices when the landscape becomes complex? Our project, MINIMA (“Microbial navigation strategies in ecologically relevant porous media”), takes on these questions. We want to know: How do the sizes of pores, compared to the size of the microbes themselves, affect their ability to move efficiently? What do microorganiams do—both in their behavior and in their biology—when they face difficulties such as tight spaces or rough surfaces? And can the very structure of these porous spaces decide whether microbes keep swimming freely or settle down to form communities? Beyond curiosity, this project also has real-world impact: it can help us better understand how soil helps regulate carbon in nature, how underground spaces might be used for clean energy storage, and even inspire new biomedical microrobots that navigate the human body.
