Polymer VS bacteria. Who will win?

Good afternoon, dear users!

Today I would like to discuss with you the problem of the interaction of bacteria and antibiotics, which has long been troubling the minds of many scientists.

The main problem is that bacteria (despite their small dimensions) are highly resilient. To combat them, periodically develop new types of drugs - antibiotics. Constant development of a new drug is the only way to combat them, because some time after the appearance of a new antibiotic (and this may even be a very short time), he (that same antibiotic) abruptly begins to lose its effectiveness.
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Those. the process of fighting bacteria is as follows: bacteria are treated with a new drug -> about 99.99 percent of all bacteria die (which, at first glance, is pretty good) -> the remaining 0.01 percent continue to multiply exponentially -> everything returns to its original position with only one change - new bacteria acquire immunity to the new drug. And again, new developments are needed.

But the pace of development of new drugs do not keep pace with the rate of emergence of new types of pathogens. People constantly need a new tool to deal with them. The situation is also aggravated by the fact that in recent years, antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been increasingly causing outbreaks of life-threatening infections.

Is there hope?

More recently, researchers from IBM Research and the Singapore Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (Singapore’s Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology) have developed new types of polymers that are aimed at detecting and destroying antibiotic-resistant bacteria and pathogens of infectious diseases, such as, for example, Staphylococcus aureus methicillin (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, MRSA).

This discovery was a side effect of the development of new semiconductor manufacturing technologies (!). Chemists from IBM Research in Almaden, California, have been working to create a new method for etching microscopic structures on silicon substrates.

In the course of research, new materials were developed, the particles of which, having electric potential, are grouped together and form polymers that protect the silicon surface from the etching substance.

After the required materials were found, and the technology worked out as necessary, scientists conducted additional research to find out if these materials could not be used anywhere else. As a result of several experiments, nanoparticles appeared that destroy bacteria by perforation of the bacterial shell.

By what principle do these polymers fight bacteria?

Nanoparticles are made from a special polymer material. When interacting with water in the body or on the human body, they independently gather into drops of 200 nanometers (which is 50,000 times thinner than a human hair). These drops have a small positive electric charge and due to this they are attracted to bacteria that have a negative electric charge, which is how they differ from the cells of the human body. Further, nanodroplets envelop the membranes of the bacteria membranes and punch large holes in them, whereby they destroy the bacteria that are difficult to treat without destroying the healthy cells around them.


Bacteria before (left) and 8 hours after (right) incubation with nanoparticles

Returning to the problem of bacterial regeneration, it is necessary to emphasize that these polymers also inhibit the development of drug resistance in bacteria. They break through the cell wall and membrane into the bacterial cell, which suggests a fundamentally different way of attacking infected cells as compared with traditional antibiotics.

Since each nanodroplet can hit many targets, there is no need to use their high concentration. After several days, the nanoparticles decompose into carbon dioxide and non-toxic primitive alcohol compounds that are eliminated from the body naturally.

According to James Hedrick (a scientist from IBM Research - Almaden, a research center dealing with advanced organic materials), “Thanks to this discovery, we can now use the results of many years of research and development in materials science, which were carried out in the semiconductor industry, to create a fundamentally new the mechanism of drug delivery, capable of making drugs more effective and highly specialized in terms of therapeutic effect. "

Yiyan Yang, head of research at the Singapore Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, also stresses: “Using our new nanostructures, we can offer a truly effective therapeutic solution for treating infections with MRSA and other infectious diseases.”

Unlike most antibacterial agents, these structures are biodegradable (i.e., biodegradable), which broadens the scope of their potential use, because, as has been said, they can be naturally excreted from the body (and do not remain in the body and accumulate in his organs).

When produced on an industrial scale, these biodegradable nanostructures can be introduced into the body directly or applied to the skin, which will allow to treat skin infections with such everyday items as deodorants, soap, wet wipes and other disinfectants.

These nanostructures can also be used for wound healing, for the treatment of tuberculosis and lung infections.
A new method of searching and physically attacking bacteria and microorganisms is an extremely promising way to fight diseases.



Currently, IBM Research researchers are working to further develop and test the technology for controlling pathogens with polymeric material and are looking for a partner company that will commercialize such technology.

In your opinion, will this discovery change life for the better?