Physicists have long been interested in the possibility that the complex living structures which have developed on planet earth did so in order to dissipate a free energy gradient. However, whilst convincing theoretical work has been published, a real world test of these ideas has proved elusive. This thesis tests these ideas using the bacterial model system Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 and finds convincing evidence that this is an ideal model system for dissipative systems theory.