Advancing microbial sciences by individual-based modelling

In this Opinion article, Kreft and colleagues discuss how the combination of individual-based observations with individual-based models (IBMs) can lead to the new approach of microbial individual-based ecology (μIBE). They illustrate this point by describing how IBMs help to explore competitive and cooperative microbial interactions, which include the emergence of spatial patterns in biofilms and bacteria–phage dynamics.