Bacteria’s growing resistance to antibiotics is not a phenomenon that should be taken lightly. Thankfully, a recent Medgadget article covered a team of researchers at Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology that is addressing the issue head-on. They’ve developed an antibacterial hydrogel that can kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The gel wound dressing is made of antimicrobial peptides, which the immunes system produces naturally.
The peptides are highly effective, but degrade quickly when they come in contact with blood, which has proven problematic for prior efforts to develop similar antibacterial treatments. The team at Chalmers circumvented this issue by binding the peptides with a protective hydrogel to maintain efficacy. The researchers are hoping to commercialize the technology with a new spin-off business called Amferia AB.
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