Comments on: IBM Creates Nanoparticles That Burst Superbugs Like Popped Balloons

By: ChuckB

ChuckB — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 19:58:20 +0000

As with any drug, this one seems to have unforseen side effects and results, and it must be thoroughly tested, and used with caution, but it is definitely a new and promising idea.

By: amphiox

amphiox — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 17:32:10 +0000

The immune complement system also works by punching holes into bacterial cell membranes.

Also, how easy or difficult would it be, theoretically, for bacteria to evolve resistance to these nanoparticles? (For example, by changing the charge of their outer membrane.)

By: C. Wade

C. Wade — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 05:39:03 +0000

I think the article is incorrect in saying that the hydrophilic part would fold inward. It would be exposed to the polar sera in the blood with the hydrophobic part folded inward. Polycarbonate would be degraded through hydrolysis eventually so it wouldn’t be around forever in the body much less after excretion. I think this is an interesting phenomenon, but they don’t seem to understand the mechanism very well.

By: M.Semones

M.Semones — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 03:52:01 +0000

Normal antibiotics attack both friendly and unfriendly bacteria, so that’s something you deal with when using current antibiotics.

What happens when the nanoparticles pass through the body and out into the environment? Are they inactivated, or will they continue to do their job on natural assemblages of microbes in ecosystems and possibly wreak havoc?

amphilic=amphiphilic or amphipathic

By: Idlewilde

Idlewilde — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 23:51:28 +0000

How will they keep the nanoparticles from attacking friendly bacteria or even cells?

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 23:04:18 +0000

Several antibiotics work by punching holes in the bacteria. So this is a pretty nice idea. My worry is the polycarbonate substrate that is used – as some of these use Bisphenol-A, an endocrine disruptor chemical (EDC). Nature Reviews Endocrinology just published a review on this . They end their abstract with: "Although more experimental work is necessary, evidence already exists to consider exposure to EDCs as a risk factor in the etiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus and other diseases related to insulin resistance." I'm leery right now of the long term effects of directly adding particles based on such plastics. I wish I did not have to pay $32 to read the article itself and see if any work has examined the plastic they use to determine if it could disrupt the endocrine systems of the patients.