Like the sound bacteria? This question is as difficult to answer as the question “what do clouds smell like”. However, after the publication of a new study in Nature Nanotechnology, much easier to give you an answer. And this is what a group of scientists from Delft University of Technology succeeded in recording the sound of a bacterium placed on drum graphene.
Curious results aside, this is a very useful study as it can be used to detect antibiotic resistance in a simple way and, above all, fast. When a person’s life is at stake due to a serious infection, it is vital to determine the best treatment as soon as possible. If you decide to use an antibiotic that the bacteria in question is resistant to, you will be wasting valuable time.
That’s why this study is so useful, because finding resistance would be as easy as testing the sound of bacteria it stops when they come into contact with the antibiotic in question. If it stops, it is sensitive and may be a good treatment. If you continue your song It’s time to keep trying and cross our fingers that there are still options to end the infection.
Serendipity studies graphene
Actually, the authors of the study, which has just been published, did not begin their research for this purpose. They just studied properties of graphenematerial that received very poor media coverage during the pandemic, but has a huge range of possibilities.
It is made up of carbon atoms arranged in a regular hexagonal pattern. This very resistant. In fact, a sheet one atom thick is 200 times stronger than steel. But it’s also lighter, about 5 times lighter than aluminum. In addition, it conducts heat and electricity very well and can be drug, adding impurities of other substances that give it new properties. All this already makes it super stuff, But that is not all. For example, it has been proven that it is capable of self-healing.
Graphene is extremely sensitive to external forces, so they thought that its vibrations could be measured when it came into contact with a bacterium.
It is logical that due to these properties, graphene is a highly valued material in areas such as electronics, space technology or biomedicine. No, vaccines don’t contain graphene, and neither do masks, let that be clear.
These scholars were especially interested in medical applications. So they wondered what would happen if he interacted with single biological objectlike a bacterium. It is known to be extremely sensitive to external forces, so movement bacterial flagella can cause detectable vibrations by appropriate sensors.
We decided to check and noticed that there really is a noticeable vibration, although very small. The graphene will act as a kind of drum that the bacteria hit, but the result is about 10 billion times smaller than a boxer hitting a bag. However, these rhythms nanoscale (extremely small scale) could be measured and turned into audio tracks. So they could test how the bacteria sounded.
Measure the sound of bacteria to fight antibiotic resistance
It is estimated that in 2019 there were nearly 5 million deaths are linked to antibiotic resistance.
Thus, this is another great pandemic that deserves the attention of scientists and citizens. Should try to stop it and find an alternativebecause antibiotics are our only weapon against bacteria. If they can evade them, we’re lost.
Just two hours after contact with the antibiotic, the sound of bacteria on graphene would begin to stop.
Today, it is not uncommon for the bacteria causing an infection to be resistant to at least one antibiotic. Especially when it comes to commonly used antibiotics. For this reason, before treatment, or if it has already been carried out unsuccessfully, the so-called antibiogram.
It consists of taking a sample of the bacteria that causes the infection and culturing it in a laboratory. Bacteria are then taken from this culture and brought into contact with various antibiotics, the effectiveness of which must be tested. If they are stable, they will be able to breed without problems. If they are sensitive, then when they are placed on a plate with the antibiotic in question, a kind of bald spot will open on it, as the microbes will die. Be that as it may, this is a lengthy process that usually takes at least 24-48 hoursso that bacteria can multiply. There are some faster ways, but they still take too long if you’re in a hurry.
Thus, the authors of this new study thought that their drums graphene might be the solution. And it lies in the fact that by placing a graphene membrane attached to one bacterium in contact with antibiotics, if the microorganism is sensitive to the drug, the sound gradually stops in just two hours, and then completely disappears. On the other hand, if he is stable, he keeps calling.
Therefore, the next step for these researchers will be to test their graphene drums with various pathogen samples and various antibiotics. If they can improve on this technique, we will have a new weapon to add to the arsenal of fighting antibiotic resistance. This is a tough war, so any help is welcome.
Source: Hiper Textual
