Scientists are figuring out lately how to make diagnostic tests that provide results much faster than what we can normally do today. For example, a physics professor at Virginia Tech has built a machine that can detect the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureau (MRSA) within an hour. Typical lab results can take up to three [...]
Polymer Innovations Fighting Bacteria
February 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Swedish researchers have developed an antibacterial polymer that does not leach into the environment and does not promote the evolution of stronger, more resistant bacteria. The innovation takes advantage of the most common organic substance in nature: cellulose. “We have managed to find an antibacterial polymer that attaches stably to cellulose and therefore cannot be [...]
Polymer Rids Surfaces of Biofilm
February 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment
When a fly lands on your nose, you wrinkle your skin and shake your head to get the bug to go away. Duke University engineers are using the same principle — albeit on a microscopic scale — to prevent bacteria that later ushers in other, larger life from building up on ship’s hulls. They believe [...]
Polymers Prevent Infections on Medical Devices
August 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment
British researchers have developed a new class of polymers that they say can repel bacteria, preventing medical-device-associated infections, medical device failure, and save England’s healthcare system £1 billion per year. The polymer designed by researchers at University of Nottingham can be applied to the surface of medical devices, such as catheters, and prevent them from [...]
Selenium in Medical Devices Reduces Bacteria
July 9, 2012 By 1 Comment
Brown University engineers have discovered that when selenium nanoparticles coat a polycarbonate, a material common in medical devices, it is very effective in preventing the accumulation of bacteria, particularly the dangerous Staphylococcus aureus. It is widely known that selenium is an inexpensive element that occurs naturally in the human body. And it is also known [...]
IBM Turning Polymers Into Antibiotics
June 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment
IBM has developed a small, biodegradable polymer that acts like the body’s immune system to destroy bacteria. The development from an unpredictable source could be the key to controlling the so-called superbug staph bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. Because antibiotics are pervasive and nearly omnipresent, scientists have been warning for decades that bacteria will [...]
Polymers Help Researchers Form New Antibiotics
May 16, 2012 By 1 Comment
Scientists have developed a method using nanoparticles laced with polymers that promises to deliver potent antibiotics directly to bacteria. The method would bypass the body’s natural resistance to certain designer drugs, and combat bacteria that have grown resistant to existing drugs. A team of researchers built the nanoparticles from a polymer coated with polyethylene glycol, [...]
Device Speeds Detection, Treatment of Bacteria
April 30, 2012 By 1 Comment
When a patient has a stubborn infection, sometimes doctors are at a loss to know what type of infection it is and how to treat it. Making cultures of the bacteria to unveil their identity can take hours, sometimes too long for sick patients. In the meantime, doctors often throw a wide spectrum of antibiotics [...]
Portable Plasma Device Kills Bacteria in Tests
April 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Prototypes of plasma medical devices hold promise for their ability to quickly kill pathogens and cancer cells. But they are stationary, need external power sources to generate the power necessary for their electrical discharges, or need an external gas supply. But as Jon Cartwright reports in Science, a flashlight-sized plasma device could greatly expand the [...]
Do Microorganisms Make BPA in Plastics More Lethal?
June 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
We worry a lot about bisphenol A (BPA) — a compound used to make plastics — and whether or not it harms us (and not just BPA, we worry about its substitutes as well). Now, to keep us more awake at night, scientist writer Erika Gebel reports in Chemical & Engineering News that a group of [...]
