IBM In Collaboration IBN Develops Antimicrobial Hydrogel To Combat Infections

Disinfecting surfaces is easy; you use household items like alcohol and bleach. But what do you do to treat resistant skin infections or infectious diseases like Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus ? Considering the fact that hospital acquired infections are among the top five leading causes in death in the United States, IBM Research in association with The Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) has developed a remoldable synthetic antimicrobial hydrogel that 90% water which can be made into creams or inject ables for wound healing, implant and catheter coatings, skin infections and orifice barriers.

[caption id="attachment_45587" align="aligncenter" width="600"]#-Link-Snipped-# On the left is a mature and healthy MRSA biofilm. After the hydrogel is applied, the biofilm is destroyed as seen on the right.[/caption]

The researchers designed macromolecules, a molecular structure containing a large number of atoms combining water solubility, positive charge, and biodegradability characteristics. These compounds when mixed with water and heated to body temperature the polymers self assemble and swell to create a synthetic gel. When this gel is applied to contaminated surfaces the hydrogel’s positive charge attracts all negatively charged microbial membranes and kills bacteria by membrane disruption. These gels are more effective than antibiotics because unlike antibiotics that have been designed to target the internal machinery of bacteria to prevent replication these hydrogels completely destroys the bacteria so that there is no chance of replication.

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