Though his career has focused on life at the microscopic scale, Assistant Professor of Biology Yunrong Chai knows that his field of microbiology has enormous implications for society.

Kevin Gozzi started working in assistant professor Win Chai’s microbiology lab during his first month at Northeastern. Now, the fourth-year biology student is the co-first author of the lab’s most recent publication.

When the going gets tough in the micro­scopic world of bac­teria, one of the best bets is to form a biofilm, an immo­bile colony of cells that offers pro­tec­tion against harsh con­di­tions.