biofilm tagged posts

Slimy, hard-to-clean bacterial mats called biofilms cause problems ranging from medical infections to clogged drains and fouled industrial equipment. Now, researchers at Princeton have found a way to cleanly and completely peel off these notorious sludges.

By looking at the films from a mechanical engineering perspective, as well as a biological one, the researchers showed that water penetrating the junction between biofilms and surfaces, coupled with gentle peeling...

In this illustration, nanoparticles attach to or are taken up by the bacteria cells. Pan and his students are the first group to demonstrate that early detection of dental plaque in the clinic is possible using the regular intraoral X-ray machine which can seek out harmful bacteria populations.
Credit: University of Illinois Laboratory for Materials in Medicine

When the good and bad bacteria in our mouth become imbalanced, the bad bacteria form a biofilm (aka plaque), which can cause cavities, and if left untreated over time, can lead to cardiovascular and other inflammatory diseases like diabetes and bacterial pneumonia.

A team of researchers from the University of Illinois has recently devised a practical nanotechnology-based method for detecting and treating the harmful bacteria that cau...

1. Scanning electron microscope images of (a) the chitosan film, (b) the chitosan-copper metal organic framework film at 500x magnification, (c) the chitosan-copper metal organic framework film at a higher magnification, and (d) an X-ray image of the film that shows the copper in pink.
2.An artist’s representation of bacteria (purple) being compromised by a chitosan-metal organic framework film. Credit: Colorado State University/Advanced Functional Materials

A new material could form a new antibacterial surface that prevents infections and reduces our reliance on antibiotics, suggests new research. By some estimates, bacterial strains resistant to antibiotics – superbugs – will cause more deaths than cancer by 2050...

QA_Cn incorporated in a composite resin system.

Material scientist Andreas Hermann, orthodontist Yijin Ren et al have made a 3D printing substrate which kills bacteria on contact. The first applications will be in dentistry, but other implants may follow.

‘The director of Kolff, who is head of the Orthodontics Department, asked me if I could come up with an antimicrobial dental glue’, Herrmann explains. Kids with braces have small metal blocks glued to their teeth, and these are an ideal breeding ground for the microbes that cause tooth decay. ‘So when I saw all sorts of 3D printed objects for use in dentistry in her office, I said: why not incorporate the antimicrobials in 3D prints?’ The results were published after 2.5 years of work.

In dentistry, it is standard practice to work with ma...