Chemist finding ways to trick killer bacteria

Many bacteria release chemical signals in search of their friends, and when the bugs congregate, chemicals build up. This then alerts the microbes that there are enough of them to kick off an infection. But Helen Blackwell, a University of Wisconsin, Madison, assistant professor of chemistry, thinks she's found a way to stop these bacterial social gatherings. By mimicking the chemicals that bacteria use to talk to each other, Blackwell is working on drugs to trick the microbes.