• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Sunday, October 26, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

Bacterial biofilms, begone

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
August 1, 2017
in Biology
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram
IMAGE

Credit: Colorado State University/Advanced Functional Materials

FORT COLLINS, COLORADO – By some estimates, bacterial strains resistant to antibiotics ­- so-called superbugs – will cause more deaths than cancer by 2050.

Colorado State University biomedical and chemistry researchers are using creative tactics to subvert these superbugs and their mechanisms of invasion. In particular, they're devising new ways to keep harmful bacteria from forming sticky matrices called biofilms – and to do it without antibiotic drugs.

Researchers from the laboratory of Melissa Reynolds, associate professor of chemistry and the School of Biomedical Engineering, have created a new material that inhibits biofilm formation of the virulent superbug Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Their material, described in Advanced Functional Materials, could form the basis for a new kind of antibacterial surface that prevents infections and reduces our reliance on antibiotics.

Bella Neufeld, the first author and graduate student who led the research, explained that her passion for finding new ways to fight superbugs is motivated by how adaptive and impenetrable they are, especially when they are allowed to form biofilms.

"Biofilms are nasty once they form, and incredibly difficult to get rid of," Neufeld said.

Many people picture bacteria and other microorganisms in their friendlier, free-floating state – like plankton swimming in a high school petri dish. But when bacteria are able to attach to a surface and form a biofilm, they become stronger and more resistant to normal drugs.

In a classic example, cystic fibrosis patients are sickened by hordes of P. aeruginosa bacteria forming a sticky film on the endothelial cells of the patients' lungs. Once those bacteria attach, drugs won't kill them.

Or, a wound can become infected with a bacterial biofilm, making it more difficult for that wound to heal.

Reynolds' research group makes biocompatible devices and materials that resist infection and won't be rejected by the body. In this most recent work, they've designed a material with inherent properties that keep a bacterial film from forming in the first place.

In the lab, they demonstrated an 85 percent reduction in P. aeruginosa biofilm adhesion. They conducted extensive studies showing the reusability of their film. This indicated that its antibacterial properties are driven by something inherent in the material, so its efficacy wouldn't fade in a clinical setting.

They used a material they've worked with before for other antimicrobial applications, a copper-based metal-organic framework that's stable in water. They embedded the copper metal-organic framework within a matrix of chitosan, a material derived from the polysaccharide chitin, which makes up insect wings and shrimp shells. Chitosan is already widely used as a wound dressing and hemostatic agent.

Neufeld says the new biomaterial could form new avenues for antibacterial surfaces. For example, the material could be used for a wound dressing that, instead of gauze, would be made of the chitosan matrix.

The research combined expertise in materials synthesis and biological testing. Co-authors with Neufeld and Reynolds were CSU graduate students Megan Neufeld (no relation) and Alec Lutzke; and Lawrence University undergraduate student Sarah Schweickart.

###

Media Contact

Anne Manning
[email protected]
970-491-7099
@ColoStateNews

Home

Original Source

http://source.colostate.edu/bacterial-biofilms-begone/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201702255

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Exploring Archaeal Promoters with Explainable CNN Models

October 26, 2025
blank

MicroRNA Dynamics in Mouse Liver During Echinococcus Infection

October 25, 2025

Comparing Four Exome Capture Platforms on DNBSEQ

October 25, 2025

EasyGeSe: Benchmarking Tool for Genomic Prediction Methods

October 25, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Sperm MicroRNAs: Crucial Mediators of Paternal Exercise Capacity Transmission

    1282 shares
    Share 512 Tweet 320
  • Stinkbug Leg Organ Hosts Symbiotic Fungi That Protect Eggs from Parasitic Wasps

    310 shares
    Share 124 Tweet 78
  • ESMO 2025: mRNA COVID Vaccines Enhance Efficacy of Cancer Immunotherapy

    194 shares
    Share 78 Tweet 49
  • New Study Suggests ALS and MS May Stem from Common Environmental Factor

    133 shares
    Share 53 Tweet 33

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Stigma, Support, and Stress in ADHD Parenting

Nurses’ Crucial Role in Suicide Prevention: A Review

Exploring Archaeal Promoters with Explainable CNN Models

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 67 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.