Quorum Innovations’ Invention: Qi601 Biofilm Shield –
Working With Our Evolutionarily Entrained Microbes.
In laboratories around the world, scientists are racing to build defenses against the tide of plastic pollution. Some efforts focus on the environment itself — filters in rivers, enzymes in landfills, biodegradable packaging that dissolves into harmless compounds. Others look inward, to the body, asking how we might shield and protect ourselves from the fragments already saturating air, food, water and our cells.
Origins in Defense
The roots of Qi601 trace back to our central concept of microbial biofilms for human body defense. Years ago, our founders had what they believed was a seminal realization: that the human microbiome itself lives on the body’s surfaces as a surface-protective barrier — as a protective biofilm. This assumption — that microbes are not only inhabitants but guardians of epithelial surfaces — has guided our design of probiotic-inspired biofilm shields. We received two Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awards to further develop our human barrier defense technologies for warfighters — protections against chemical and biological weapons in combat. That work focused on the natural properties of microbial biofilms: sticky, layered communities that resist chemical invasion by trapping or deflecting foreign and chemical particles. In parallel to working with DARPA, we partnered with Bayer Pharmaceuticals in a joint development program exploring biofilm barrier protection technologies, further validating the translational potential of this approach. From defense against battlefield chemicals to pharmaceutical collaborations, the concept of “surface protection” built on protective biofilms is the foundation upon which our technology was built. Ultimately, we would determine that Qi601 could also defend civilians against the invisible invasion of plastics.
Biofilm Shield: How Microbial Communities Become Protective Barriers
A bacterial biofilm is a highly organized, cooperative community of microbes that behaves very differently from individual, free-floating (planktonic) bacterial cells. Within a biofilm, microbes communicate using quorum-sensing molecules that trigger synchronized, population-wide shifts in gene expression, effectively creating a new phenotype with enhanced resilience and shared capabilities. These communities also form electrical channels that allow cells to exchange information and nutrients, functioning almost like a cohesive multicellular organism. Encasing the entire consortium is an extracellular polysaccharide matrix — a sticky, protective scaffold that anchors the biofilm to surfaces, shields it from environmental stress, and creates a physical barrier against chemical or biological intrusion. In this way, biofilms demonstrate a fundamental biological principle and phenomenon that illustrates a core biological truth: when living systems act collectively, when acting together as a quorum, they gain emergent properties far greater than the sum of their individual parts — a principle true for people too.
Qi601 was derived from a beneficial human-associated bacterium we discovered. This organism was independently reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and granted GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status under GRN 000988, confirming its safety profile and suitability for human exposure. From this source, we developed Qi601™ as a non-living, biofilm-derived protective matrix — a Probiomic® — made to bind and sequester micro- and nanoplastics before they interact with human tissue.
We have also secured extensive intellectual property protection around Qi601 and its underlying biofilm architecture. We have over 50 issued patents across the United States, the European Union, China, Japan, Korea, Israel, Thailand, and Australia, with approximately 20 additional patents pending worldwide. The USPTO, the European Patent Office, and patent authorities across multiple continents have recognized the uniqueness of our discoveries, issuing patents that protect the bacterium itself, its biofilm-derived cellular mass, its manufacturing methods, and its application as a barrier and plastic decontamination technology. This broad and growing portfolio affirms the novelty, scientific merit, and global relevance of our inventions — establishing us as a leader in biofilm-based protective platforms and anchoring Qi601 as a first-in-class solution for defending human health against environmental plastics.
Paradigm Shift: Barrier Protection and Intracellular Plastic Decontamination
Among emerging strategies for mitigation of plastic absorption by the human body, one stands apart for its elegance and simplicity: Qi601, a product we developed. Unlike biotherapeutics that alter metabolism or complex genetic therapies, Qi601 acts as a physical barrier in the gut — a microscopic biofilm shield designed to intercept plastics before they can touch human tissue. Derived from an inactivated Limosilactobacillus fermentum strain to which the FDA granted Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status, Qi601 forms naturally aggregating biofilm probiotic structures. Qi601 is a ProBiomic® functioning as both a defensive surface coating and an intelligent binding matrix that promotes the integrity of the human microbiome.
Beyond its barrier role, laboratory experimental findings suggest Qi601 may also protect human cells after plastics have entered the cell, acting as a transepithelial binding agent that establishes a high-affinity extracellular sink for nanoplastic particles. This mechanism may facilitate active transport or exocytic release of internalized plastics from the cell, reducing intracellular burden while preventing further absorption from the cell surface. In this way, Qi601 represents a new class of microbiome-inspired health products — one that not only prevents exposure to plastic absorption but may also help reverse it, transforming the gut epithelium from a passive boundary into an active, absorptive surface. This discovery represents a paradigm shift: not only can Qi601 act as a barrier to prevent the absorption of plastics but it also functions as a plastic decontamination agent, facilitating the clearance of plastics that may have already entered cells. Together, these findings suggest that barrier-based protection and intracellular plastic decontamination can coexist within the same biologically inspired technology of Qi601 — offering a new frontier for defending the human body against the invisible burden of micro- and nanoplastics.