| McMaster researchers have developed a novel new gel made entirely from bacteria-killing viruses. | |
| The anti-bacterial gel, which can be targeted to attack specific forms of bacteria, holds promise for numerous 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 tissue, or in environmental cleanup operations, says chemical engineer Zeinab Hosseini-Doust. | |
| Her lab, which specializes in developing engineering solutions for infectious disease, grew, extracted and packed together so many of the viruses – called bacteriophages, or simply phages – that they assembled themselves spontaneously into liquid crystals and, with the help of a chemical binder, formed into a gelatin-like substance that can heal itself when cut. | |
| Yellow in colour and resembling Jell-O, a single millilitre of the antibacterial gel contains 300 trillion phages, which are the most numerous organisms on Earth, outnumbering all other organisms combined, including bacteria. |
“Phages are all around us, including inside our bodies,” explains Hosseini-Doust. “Phages are bacteria’s natural predators. Wherever there are bacteria, there are phages. What is unique here is the concentration we were able to achieve in the lab, to create a solid material.”
Image Credit: JD Howell, McMaster University
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