A new weapon has been created by researchers at the university.
They have come up with a way to get harmless viruses to link together and form tiny beads. The beads are safe to apply to food and other materials. One 50th of a millimeter in diameter, each bead is loaded with millions of phages
Tohid Didar, a professor at the Canada Research Chair in Bacteriophage Bioengineering, is one of the principals behind the invention.
The researchers' sprayable new super-disinfectant is food-safe and highly effective and will be published today in the influential journal Nature Communications.
A graduate student and a Vanier scholar tested a spray on food products.
"When we spray it on food, we gather billions of mini-soldiers to protect our food frombacteria," says Tian, who led the study.
The chemistry work that Hosseinidoust's lab had previously done triggered phages to connect to one another and form a gel.
She says they are similar to Lego pieces. It's easier to package, store and use these natural structures.
Prior to the introduction of penicillin in the 1940s, research into phages and therapies had been very promising, but interest waned once antibiotics made from penicillin came onto the market. There is a lot of interest in the research of phages.
The antimicrobial power of phages is increased when they contact targetbacteria.
Didar says that the response is more overpowering than antibiotics. No other product has the same properties as the phages.
One of the major advantages of using phages in agriculture and food production is that they can be directed to take out harmful strains ofbacteria without killing the beneficial ones.
The researchers say that the new spray has the potential to be used in a commercial way.
The research paper shows that sprayable material can be used to eliminate E. coli from food.
The same approach can be used against other types of food poisoning, such asSalmonella and Listeria. Even as a treatment for irrigation water and equipment, phage sprays could be used to stop the spread of disease.
The work done in the lab of Hosseinidoust combines the work done in the lab of Didar and other colleagues with work done in the lab of other people.
Leon He is one of the co- authors on the paper.
Next, the group will test the new material's promising applications in medicine, where it could be used to suck out phlegm. It will take more time for a product to be proven safe and effective than it will for a medical application.
There is more information about sprayable antimicrobials targeting multidrug- resistantbacteria. There is a DOI of 10.1038/s41467-022-3 4803-7.
Journal information: Nature Communications
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