Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Anti-Viral Polymer Paints Flu Into A Corner
A remarkable anti-viral polymer can be applied like paint; it was developed by MIT's Alexander Klibanov. His intent is to develop a biocidal "paint" that can help reduce the spread of germs in public areas and hospitals.
(Bottom slide covered with alkylated PEI)
In the above illustration, a regular commercial glass slide (top) and another one coated with alkylated PEI "paint" (bottom) were sprayed with aqueous suspensions of Staphylococcus aureus cells, and then incubated. Some 200 bacterial colonies are seen on the unprotected slide—and only 4 on the protected one.
Staphylococcus aureus is described by the CDC as a "superbug" that is resistant to many types of antibiotics. Studies have shown that it can survive for weeks even on hard surfaces.
Klibanov writes:
Our recent studies have resulted in a new, “non-release” strategy for rendering common materials (plastics, glass, textiles) permanently microbicidal. This strategy, involving covalent attachment of certain long, moderately hydrophobic polycations to material surfaces, has been proven to be very effective against a variety of pathogenic bacteria and fungi, both airborne and waterborne. This work continues along with a quest for creating material coatings with anti-viral and anti-sporal activities.
Klibanov and his colleagues found that the prickly polymer worked on bacteria; they tested it with the smaller flu virus and found the same effects. They applied droplets of a flu solution to glass slips painted with the polymer. After a few minutes' exposure, they were unable to recover any active virus from the samples, meaning the coating reduced the pathogen's abundance by at least a factor of 10,000.
How does it work? In the case of bacteria, the polymer seems to gouge holes in a microbe's cell wall and spilling out its contents. The polymer molecules stay rigid because they are all positively charged and repel each other; they are like strands of hair standing on end from a static charge. The spikes have sufficiently few charges, however, that they can breach bacterial walls, which repel strongly charged molecules. The polymer probably neutralizes flu because the virus has an envelope around it suitable for spearing, Klibanov says.
Here are some other inventions that work on small organisms:
- First Motor Powered By Living Bacteria
Amazing new motor powered by hard-working bacteria. - Fungus Devours CDs
You thought you had enough to worry about - now there's a fungus that consumes CDs, metal and all. - Implanted Biothermal RFID Chips May Warn Of Avian Flu
Digital Angel, which makes VeriChips for humans, suggests using its thermal biosensing chips to check chickens for avian flu.
From Scientific American via MedGadget; read more about Alexander Klibanov.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/16/2006)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Medical ")
3D Printed Organs From Space
'For a while your colonists will have to come up to the [orbital] Hospital...'
Health Kiosk Has No Human Doctor
'The electronic body analyzer had been developed...' - Michael Crichton, 1969.
NEO Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
'The remains of the lace took on the rough shape of a brain...' - Iain Banks, 2010.
MIT Computerized Bionic Leg Is Part Of The User
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain, through the mediation of the electronic brain in the leg.' - Charles Recour, 1949.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Factories In The Sky Will Surpass Those Of Earth
'The thirty-odd miles of The Factory’s circumference...'
Sleeper Drones Lie in Wait
'Wandering mines, you took them out on the edge of the desert, set them down and activated them.'
Warfare Goes Underground In Ukraine
'Once in the very first weeks of the war, before everyone had been evacuated from the surface...'
3D Printed Organs From Space
'For a while your colonists will have to come up to the [orbital] Hospital...'
Robot Bees 3D Printed By Festo
'At first I was struck by the large size of these bees..'
DIY Robot Scorpion Crushes It
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.'
How To Settle An Argument Between Two Robots
'Henry... assumed the curious absent look of a robot talking on the TBR circuits.'
The Wind Phone Calls Those Who Have Passed On
'Only I heard that!'
Don't Want To Wear A TIght Shiny Bodysuit?
'He looked a good bit like an elderly, fat beetle.'
Light Society: Simulates Earth-Scale Society With A Billion AI Agents
'The king, an old hand in the running of tyrannies, instantly grasped the directions...'
Satyress Centaur Robot Horror Reminds Everyone Of Something
'Fess was very dutiful'
When Colds Threaten You Can't Do This - Or Can You?
'...a hemispherical force field enclosing his head.'
Beautiful Visualization of Dawn Spacecraft
'Then he became aware of a gentle pressure pushing him away from the ship.'
Biological War: A Scenario
'And now they wre busily transforming all their companions, and so on, and so on...'
Pole-Dancing Stripperbot Robot
'Why, a clockwork dancer, or, better still, one that would go by electricity and never run down...'
Collective Superintelligence Is At Hand!
'Maybe the individual intelligence of each Cubic pools into a group intelligence...'
