Researchers at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel have developed an anti-biofilm coating that has ‘significant anti-adhesive potential for a variety of medical and industrial applications’.
“Our solution addresses a pervasive need to design environmentally friendly materials to impede dangerous surface bacteria growth,” explained BGU researchers from the Avram and Stella Goldstein-Goren Department of Biotechnology Engineering.
“This holds tremendous potential for averting biofilm formed by surface-anchored bacteria and could have a tremendous impact.”
The research published in Advanced Materials Interfaces discusses how ‘anti-adhesive patches that are developed from naturally occurring biomaterials can prevent destructive bacterial biofilm from forming on metal surfaces when they are immersed in water and other damp environments’.
They could also be used on medical implants, devices and surgical equipment where existing bacteria has the potential ‘to contribute chronic diseases, resist antibiotic treatment and thereby compromise the body’s defense system’.