Warfighters in the field are constantly struggling to keep out dust, dirt and germs from their weapons, personal effects and even their own bodies.
Although those in the field might not be able to keep everything else pristine, scientists doing work for DTRA CB/JSTO are hoping to find a better way to cut down on bacterial biofouling to reduce the number of pathogens soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have to face.
Light-activated killer films. (Created for the Department of Defense by Dr. Gabriel Lopez, Duke University/Released)
Work managed by DTRA CB’s Dr. Brian Pate and performed by Dr. Gabriel Lopez from Duke University described the successful demonstration of a newly developed methodology to deposit multifunctional films having both antimicrobial activity and fouling-release ability on substrates using resonant infrared, matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (RIR-MAPLE).
In the Journal of the Materials Chemistry B article, “RIRMAPLE deposition of multifunctional films combining biocidal and fouling release properties,” Lopez was able to demonstrate how the deposited films were characterized and tested against Escherichia coli K12 and Staphylococcus epidermidis. The film’s biocidal and bacterial-release ability was retained after several attach-kill-release cycles.
The simplicity and universality to form these multifunctional light-activated killer films on a wide range of substrates make it a promising technique to actively mitigate bacterial biofouling. These materials might also have applications in areas such as diagnostics and environmental monitoring.
The principal investigator’s interests in biomaterials science and engineering, bioanalytical chemistry and biointerfacial phenomena, coupled with his highly interdisciplinary collaborative research team whose expertise in biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, chemistry, biology and physics, continually works to address problems in the areas of biomimetic materials, biosensing and diagnostics, bioseparations.
As a result, they have established principles for formation of fouling resistant surfaces and stimuli-responsive surfaces that could be used for rapid and efficient release of microbial biofilms.
These smart surfaces will potentially have field applications as devices for detecting, capturing, and destroying chem-bio warfare agents, acting to repeatedly capture and kill bacteria. They might also be useful for testing predictive models that evaluate bacterial agent adhesion on relevant surfaces.
Story and information provided by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Chemical and Biological Technologies Department
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Interesting ideas, confusingly presented. There are two men mentioned, but later “his” is mentioned – that’s one person. Then you shift back to “they.” Say what?
Needlessly confusing, needs some basic editing.
Explain some terms, don’t just abbreviate them into dense acronyms. Have a bullet-point key along the side, or hyperlink atypical words so readers can click and see definitions if they care to. This was tweeted out to a wide audience (which is great.) So meet them where they are – most are not scientists and researchers.
This piece is a prime example of scientists deciding that their “serious” work needs no input from an English major!
More people could access the information, without it being ‘dumbed down,’ if basic composition rules were applied. In truth, it’s harder to be clear and simple than to hide behind run-on sentences that obscure meaning for no reason. Jargon is a copout.
The hardworking taxpayers who fund this endeavor, who care very much about military member safety, would like to know in clear terms about these advances.
Get someone whose expertise is communication to help you tell this story to them – not just other scientists. Insularity is no virtue.
Come at this again, and be grateful you have an audience of funders who are interested in your work and receptive to hearing about it.