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Researchers at McMaster University have developed a new gel made entirely from bacteria-killing viruses.
The antibacterial gel, which can be targeted to specific forms of bacteria, is promising for many beneficial applications in medicine and environmental protection.
Among many possibilities, it could be used as an antibacterial coating for implants and artificial joints, as a sterile growth scaffold for human tissues or in environmental cleaning operations, says chemical engineer Zeinab Hosseini -Doust.
His laboratory, specialized in the development of engineering solutions for infectious diseases, has grown, extracted and grouped so many viruses – called bacteriophages, or simply phages – that they spontaneously badembled into liquid crystals and, with the help of a chemical binder, formed into a substance similar to gelatin that can heal once cut.
Yellow and Jell-O-like, one milliliter of antibacterial gel contains 300,000 billion phages, the most numerous organisms on Earth, surpbading all other organisms combined, including bacteria.
"Phages are all around us, including inside our body," says Hosseini-Doust. "Phages are the natural predators of bacteria, wherever there are bacteria, there are phages, which is unique here, it is the concentration that we could reach in the laboratory, to create a material. solid."
The field of phage research is growing rapidly, especially as the threat of antimicrobial resistance increases.
"We need new methods to kill bacteria, and bacteriophages are one of the promising alternatives," said Lei Tan, PhD student at Hosseini-Doust's lab and co-author of the paper describing the research. , published today in the journal Chemistry of Materials. "Phage can kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria."
Hosseini-Doust says that phage DNA can be easily modified to target specific cells, including cancer cells. Thanks to a technology called phage display, winner of the Nobel Prize, it is even possible to find phages targeting plastics or environmental pollutants.
Being able to transform the phages into a solid form opens new perspectives, just as their usefulness in the fight against diseases is realized, she says
Source: McMaster University
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