Utilium: A Nature-Based Biofilm Buster ft. Dr. David Stapleton | E20

Send us Fan MailDavid is a researcher-turned-innovator with three decades in biomedical science, a PhD-era discovery that reshaped our understanding of energy metabolism, and a new company, Utilium, born from a hospital bed and a handful of rocks from Bunnings.In this episode, we sit down with one of CoLabs' Impact Members to explore his bio-inspired approach to biofilms: the invisible microbial communities that cost global industry $2–3 trillion a year, fuel antibiotic resistance, and lurk in the rubber seal of your washing machine.David shares how crustaceans (who somehow keep their shells immaculate in an ocean seemingly devoted to the degradation of most things) became the blueprint for a technology that could transform healthcare, marine infrastructure, food production, and more.In this conversation, we explore how daydreaming is a useful method for ideation, the freedom that comes with constraint, trusting your instincts, and why the gold is always hiding in the detail.What we coverHow David isolated AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase) – a breakthrough enzyme central to energy metabolism – using a Velcro analogy and an analog lab setup, pre-internetThe brutal economics of academic research: falling grant success rates, frozen samples, and an unceremonious exitA winding path through cannabis terpenes, horse probiotics, and ship biofouling that eventually pointed to biofilmsWhat biofilms actually are – and why treating them as a bacterial problem misses the point entirelyThe first experiment: two rocks, some oregano oil, and 93 days in Port Phillip BayHow working with almost no equipment led David to discover something he would have missed in a fully-equipped labThe role of AI (including a helpfully sarcastic session with Gemini) in checking assumptions and staying honestBiofilm's reach: washing machines, chronic wounds, hospital sinks, dairy farms, pipes, marine hulls... a near-infinite problem space!Why antibiotic resistance is the wrong frame, and what crustacean shell chemistry suggests as an alternativeWhere Utilium is headed, and which applications David is backing firstKeen to learn more about Utilium? LinkedinWebsite Patched UpKeep Following the PatternSam's InstagramSubstackCoLabs CoLabs NewsletterThis is an evolving experiment.The Strange Attractor is produced by Ecotone Studio — a creative practice exploring the fertile edge where art, science, technology and philosophy meet.Like the ecosystems we are a part of, this project is designed to evolve. Every conversation changes the next one.If there’s a question you’d like us to explore, a guest we should invite, or a theme you think deserves more attention, drop us a line. We’re especially interested in the spaces between disciplines—the ecotones where unexpected ideas emerge. If you’re building something thoughtful, beautiful or regenerative, or simply wrestling with questions that matter, we’d love to hear from you. Thanks for listening. Until next time — stay curious.