BIOFILMS are a problem in medicine.
When bacteria gang up to form the continuous sheets that bear this name they are far harder to kill with antibiotics than when they just float around as individual cells. Biofilms on devices such as implants are thus difficult to shift, and those growing on the surfaces of human organs are frequently lethal. But Matthew Chang, a biochemical engineer at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, has worked out a new way to attack them. His weapon is a different type of bacterium, which he has genetically engineered into a finely honed anti-biofilm missile.
The starting point for this new piece of biotechnology is a common gut bacterium called Escherichia coli. Though this species is best known to the wider world for causing food poisoning, most strains of it are benign, and it is one of the workhorses of genetics.
The story began in 2011 when Dr Chang worked out how to program E. coli to release destructive antimicrobial peptides when they came into contact with another bacterium,Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Biofilms
- Artificial Sweetener Could Harm Your Gut And The Microbes That Live There New Study
An artificial sweetener called neotame can cause significant harm to the gut, my colleagues and I discovered . It does this harm in two ways. One, b ...
- Study suggests host response needs to be studied along with other bacteriophage research
A team of micro- and immunobiologists from the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Yale University, and the University of Pittsburgh has found evidence suggesting that future research teams planning ...
- New structures offer insight into how a bacterial motor powers bacterial chemotaxis, a key infectious process
Bacteria existed for millennia before humans and have been infecting us from the beginning. Although we can treat infections through pharmaceuticals, bacteria continue to become resistant to treatment ...
- Could Your Water Bottle Make You Sick?
W ashing your reusable water bottle can be an easy chore to overlook—until you pop off the lid to give it a refill and notice a ring of scum. Those smaller bits—like the lid and/or straw—make water ...
- Methane Eating Microbes - A Novel Solution For Greenhouse Gas Mitigation
Methane is a significant contributor to human-driven greenhouse gas emissions, but there is useful group of microbes that can help because they use methane for food.
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Biofilms
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Biofilms” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Anti-biofilm
- Solved! What Is the Pink Mold in My Shower, and How Do I Get Rid of It?
The discoloration comes from a biofilm—specifically, a bacterial colony of Serratia marcescens. Though it’s not actually mold, it’s commonly referred to as pink mold. Is pink mold ...
- Penn Dental researcher designing 'next generation' dental implant
An assistant professor at Penn Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia is working on a new implant that could be less susceptible to infection. Geelsu Hwang, PhD, is working ...
- Health Benefits of DIM (Diindolylmethane)
Researchers have looked at the anti-inflammatory effects of DIM ... Research suggests DIM can help block the growth of biofilm, a growth caused by bacteria on the skin. This may reduce the ...
- Anti-Israel protesters heard shouting ‘We are Hamas,’ ‘Long live Hamas’ amid Columbia U demonstrations
Anti-Israel protesters near Columbia University were heard shouting pro-Hamas slogans this week as demonstrations geared up at the private campus. "We are Hamas!" one aggressive protester was ...
- Retinol helps wounds heal faster, could help countless older people
Nano micelles of Retinol, a type of vitamin A commonly used in anti-aging beauty products ... found that the technology is able to disrupt biofilms and kill key bacteria associated with chronic ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Anti-biofilm
[google_news title=”” keyword=”anti-biofilm” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]