This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The use of antibiotics has traditionally been considered the gold standard in bacterial infection control—the more bacterial cells you kill, and the faster you kill them, the better. University of Tennessee, Knoxville Professor Dacheng Ren champions a different approach: engineer an antibiotic-free surface that prevents bacteria from establishing an infection at all.
"It actually arose from an accidental discovery," said Ren, who heads the Department of Biomedical Engineering. "About 10 years ago, I gave some students a project that I thought would be simple and give straightforward results. However, the findings weren't as expected.
I got lucky to work with these really talented students. They paid attention to details, which helped lay a foundation for some exciting ideas that we work on today." Ren had been studying biofilms, layers of bacteria that coat themselves in a matrix that both glues them to a surface and shields them from danger. Forming a biofilm makes bacterial cells 1,000 times less susceptible to antibiotics.
Biofilm-forming bacteria are a major cause of medical device-associated infections for patients who need catheters, replacement heart valves, orthopedic implants and other devices, sometimes resulting in severe illness or even death. What Ren's students discovered is that bacteria don't form biofilms on just any surface. Instead, they have a sophisticated means of sensing the topography of the surface they are on and can 'decide' whether to make a biofilm accordingly.
"That inspired me to think, "Can we engineer a surface in a way that discourages them from attaching to it?'" Ren said. "Over the past few years, we learned how bacteria read the 'map' of a surface and how we can draw inspiration from nature to design better biomaterials." Ren has spent the last several years working to engineer materials that bacteria find unappealing. In his previous role at Syracuse University, Ren and his research group pioneered "active topography"—flexible materials that can be manipulated through temperature changes or magnetic activation.
The materials are tremendously effective at preventing biofilm formation and can even dislodge up to 99.9% of an established biofilm. Since Ren arrived at the University of Tennessee, his team of undergraduate and graduate students has continued to develop new active topography designs and applications. His lab is currently developing a prototype self-cleaning urinary catheter that Ren hopes will improve patient comfort and safety.
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