Bacteria have always been considered to act independently of a population. Until …

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Biochemistry of Quorum Sensing
• Virulent Factors, Morphology, Antibiotic Susceptibility
• Industrial Manipulation of Quorum Sensing Systems
• Conclusion
• Abbreviations
• References

Although only discovered just 3 decades ago and previously taken with skepticism, it has been shown that quorum sensing is an integral part of bacterial survival and life cycles. The importance of quorum sensing has not gone unnoticed; new studies are popularly being done from both medical and industrial sides of microbiology. By studying the biochemistry of  quorum sensing, a better understanding of how bacteria become virulent can be obtained. Drugs that inhibit quorum sensing systems can help in containing virulent factors and keep patients, like those with Cystic Fibrosis, healthy. New drugs that target auto-inducers can provide a powerful solution to antibiotic resistance, which can save lives as well as industrial live stock. Manipulation of cell-to-cell communication can also result in a higher product yield in microbiological industries, such as acetic acid. By combining QS manipulation with genetic engineering and strain selection, a much higher product yield can be reached. Quorum sensing provides the perfect explanation for how industrial-products are regulated. It has been over 300 years since man first saw bacteria through a microscope, and although science has increased knowledge immeasurably since then, there still remains much to be seen.