Keeping biofilms at bay

Researchers at The University of Nottingham and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have built a high throughput screening platform to identify polymers that are resistant to bacterial colonization.¹ The technique has yielded a new class of compounds that could prevent biofilm formation on the surface of medical devices.

Biofilms are slow-growing, hardy, drug-resistant bacterial conglomerates that can form on the surface of catheters and other surgical implants. The films can lead to local inflammation and serve as reservoirs of bacteria that cause local or systemic infection...