Researchers use tea tree sprouts as “robots” to kill and eliminate bacteria

According to foreign media reports, when harmful bacteria gather on the surface of medical implants and other materials, they form a viscous antibiotic resistant coating or biofilm. Scientists have invented a new method to remove these thin films, which includes using magnetic manipulation to enhance tea tree buds. The buds of Camellia sinensis tea trees are not only inexpensive and biodegradable in their natural form, but also porous.

In addition, they also contain a compound called polyphenols, which can kill bacteria.

Researchers from the Guwahati Institute of Technology in India, led by Professor Dipankar Bandyopadhyay, began grinding these buds to separate some porous particles that could be produced. Then they coated these particles with magnetic nanoparticles.

Afterwards, these pores were filled with the antibiotic ciprofloxacin. Tests have shown that under acidic conditions, this substance will be released from the pores.

This improved tea tree bud particle, known as T-Budbots, is eventually placed in a bacterial biofilm grown in glassware. By using magnets, scientists can guide particles through these thin films. When T-Budbots move, they can penetrate the coating, kill bacteria, and remove biofilms.

Bandyopadhyay and his colleagues are satisfied with their concept validation research, but they point out that this technology needs further improvement before it can be used for implants or other items in the human body.

The relevant research report has been published in ACS Applied Materials&Interfaces.

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