We can stop the infection even before it gets into our bodies — if you just play on the surface texture of the insect wings and begin to cover the Elevator buttons and door handles are materials which kill microbes or inhibit their development.
Ten million deaths per year. The figure is unfathomable, but it often leads Gerald Leroy of Momu, researcher of infectious diseases at Imperial College London (UK).
this is a sad outcome for our world, if all disease-causing microbes develop resistance to antibiotics — the main obstacle on which we rely in combating disease.
currently, from diseases not amenable to treatment with drugs, killed 700 thousand people per year. And in the last 10 years list of drugs that we can use against harmful bacteria, decreased in the eyes.
warns Leroy of Momu, “if nothing is done, 10 million people will die each year.”
He is one of those scientists who are looking for new ways to break the resistance of microbes. Plans Leroy of Momu — to turn in the antimicrobial weapons of the same surface through which microorganisms are transmitted from person to person.
“the Surface that we touch every day — the potential instruments of transfer of infection,” says Leroy of Momu.
for example, the virus Sars-CoV-2, which becomes the cause of the disease Covid-19, can live on the cardboard surfaces up to 24 hours on plastic and metal (stainless steel) — up to three days (although scientists argue about the extent to which it retains its quality and transmissibility. — Ed.).
And some bacteria, including Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, sometimes remain viable on surfaces of inanimate objects for several months.
And it only emphasizes the importance of continuous disinfection and cleaning of surfaces that we frequently touch.
Some scientists hope that we can destroy infectious microorganisms before they get into our body — just by changing the texture of the surfaces or covering the surfaces with a special layer that kills viruses and bacteria more quickly.
the Copper even more efficient than silver, which need moisture to activate antimicrobial properties.
“Copper has been used by mankind for three thousand years, stresses Leroy of Momu. — the ancient Greeks were made of copper and medical instruments, and kitchenware”.
nevertheless, copper is rarely used today in medical facilities. It is an expensive metal, it is more difficult to clean without causing corrosion. Well, then — because not everyone will like metal toilet seat.
Over time copper has been supplanted first by stainless steel, then a light and cheap plastic, which, according to Leroy of Momu, you can just throw away after a single use, without worrying about sterilization.
although it is not possible to cover all surfaces around the copper, United Leroi of Momu believes that to curb the spread of germs and reducing infection will be enough to use this metal in alloys in the “hot spots” that people constantly touch — buttons, elevators, doorknobs , etc.
in addition, the copper surface can be treated with a laser, creating a rough texture that increases the surface area and, thus, the amount of bacteria that it is able to destroy.
And this treatment will be useful not only for door handles, but, for example, for medical implants in a hip replacement, reducing the risk of infection.
There are other proposals to change surface texture.
“the Wings of cicadas possess self-cleaning properties”, — says Elena Ivanova, a molecular biochemist from Royal Melbourne University of technology (Australia).
Their wings have hydrophobic properties, water droplets simply roll off them, just as with Lotus leaf, together with pollutants.
more importantly, she said that the wings of cicadas littered with tiny spikes that prevent the formation on the surface of bacterial colonies.
Saturation, geometric characteristics, and method and materials for the production of such surfaces will depend on what microbes you plan to fight.
According to Ivanova, complex zigzag texture is especially effective in water and air filters.
the graphene Sheets are very thin, with sharp ridges, cutting the membrane of bacteria and killing them (though these microscopic razor can damage the skin of a person).
in addition, the titanium dioxide when it affects ultraviolet radiation, forms a reactive oxygen species such as peroxides that inactivate (inhibit) bacteria. It’s already being used, for example, in coatings of braces in dentistry.
“these surfaces do not require some special handling”, — stressed Ivanov.
However, the production of these surfaces will require a high degree of precision, since elements smaller than bacteria.
But, according to Vladimir Baulin, biophysicist from the University of Rowery-and-Verily (Spain), similar technologies can also be applied against viruses, including against coronavirus.
One possible strategy is to catch the viral particles trapped between nanocomponentmi, artificially created on the surface. This will help scientists to collect viral particles for research and development of vaccines.
Nature offers us various options of combating the spread of contagious diseases. “There’s a lot of evidence for the efficacy of essential oils as antibacterial and antiviral ingredients,” says Alejandra Ponce, engineer from the University Nacional de Mar del Plata (Argentina).
Take the tea tree oil, sharply smelling component of many cosmetic products. As noted by Ponce, in experimental studies discovered that a spray of tea tree oil has strong antiviral effect, and can block virus samples with the efficiency exceeding 95% in just 5-15 minutes of exposure.
the Tube has established itself as a highly effective anti-bacterial against Staphylococcus aureus.
And extracts of hops were used to produce similar to the plastic coating, which prevents the growth of certain bacteria on surfaces.
Such studies are still only at an experimental stage. In theory, these natural materials could be turned in anti-microbial coatings, but there is still much to find out about the exact number of the main ingredients and the type of microorganisms against which will target these coatings.
But in General, the field of potential applications of antimicrobial surfaces is quite wide. “I think it is important to emphasize that this is a universal mechanism, and therefore, the range of its application is so broad,” says Baulin.
However, it should not unduly rely on such an approach, warns Mangin Ren, an employee of the Swedish network ReAct — Action on Antibiotic Resistance (“Actions concerning resistance to antibiotics”).
As she notes, no matter how good the technology, you still need to adhere to basic requirements for medical institutions by qualified personnel, nurses, hygiene conditions for the prevention and control of infectious diseases, as well as the possibility of vaccination. There are easy solutions do not exist.
In poor countries, where do not always have reliable access to running water, it is especially difficult to keep clean those surfaces that need to be processed.
However, according to Ivanova, titanium and titanium alloy self-cleaning from pathogenic cells. But the copper surface should be cleaned in order to limit the oxidation, which will make the metal less reactive.
Ren and her colleagues are concerned, there is a risk of emergence of resistance of pathogenic microorganisms to copper with silver or to new antibacterial surfaces.
anyway, well��but the time for these technologies found a commercial developer and moved on to the stage wide offer. However, a number of examples already exists.
Sharklet (not to be confused with sharklets the aircraft wingtips that improve the aerodynamic characteristics of — Ed.) — plastic film material, imitating the scales of a shark, whose surface consists of rhombuses with acute teeth-scales repelling all alien, including bacteria. This material is already used in medicine, in such products as catheters, where it is particularly important to reduce the risk of infection in the body.
There is still a coating MicroShield 360, which is applied to the seat in the aircraft to avoid layering on bacteria.
although 3D printers rarely work at the nanoscale, some of their models can do it. ever will be possible to print microbatteries surface right at home.
In future confrontations with infectious diseases and pandemics such surfaces can be an important tool. Already today for a world struggling with a virus Covid-19, the problem of antimicrobial resistance unprecedentedly relevant.
Infected with coronavirus are usually given antibiotics (although against the virus those has no effect). This reinforces fears of a further increase of bacterial resistance to drugs.
“We are surrounded by infection, so there is nothing unusual in our current war with the coronavirus, stresses Leroy of Momu. — And it is very important to prepare for the next. It is not known when it will begin.”
