By Arnie Cooper Posted 10.29.2009 at 4:01 pm 12 Comments

Slippery When Wet Similar to the texture of sharkskin, Sharklet’s three-micrometer-wide diamond-shaped pattern prevents bacteria from taking root. iStock; Sharklet Technologies

A whale’s skin is easily glommed up with barnacles, algae, bacteria and other sea creatures, but sharks stay squeaky-clean. Although these parasites can pile onto a shark’s rippled skin too, they can’t take hold and thus simply wash away. Now scientists have printed that pattern on an adhesive film that will repel bacteria pathogens from hospitals and public restrooms.

Related Articles

Cannibal Bacteria Kills Siblings
Chemical Additive to Antibiotics Could Make Them Newly Effective Against Resistant Bacteria
The Attractive Shark Repellent

Tags

Science, bacteria, e. coli, fda, headlines, microorganisms, November 2009, parasites, sharks, staph, superbacteria
Patented by Sharklet Technologies, a Florida-based biotech company, the film, which is covered with microscopic diamond-shaped bumps, is the first “surface topography” proven to keep the bugs at bay. In tests in a California hospital, for three weeks the plastic sheeting’s surface prevented dangerous microorganisms, such as E. coli and Staphylococcus A, from establishing colonies large enough to infect humans. Bacteria have an easier time spreading out on smooth surfaces, says CEO Joe Bagan: “We think they come across this surface and make an energy-based decision that this is not the right place to form a colony.” Because it doesn’t kill the bacteria, there’s also little chance of the microbes evolving resistance to it. Hey, it’s worked for sharks for 400 million years.

That’s good news for hospitals, where infections from drug-resistant superbacteria like MRSA, a potentially fatal strain of staph, are becoming commonplace. Bagan hopes to stick the skin on nursing call buttons, bed rails, tray tables and other surfaces by next year. Pending FDA approval, the shark pattern could be manufactured directly onto bacteria hotbeds like catheters and water containers by 2012. First, though, look for Sharklet on high-touch surfaces like door handles in restaurant restrooms around the U.S. later this year—a welcome extra line of defense against those who forget to wash their hands.

12 Comments

Link to this comment
chieffranky
10/29/09 at 8:35 pm

Wow. That's a very fast and major change in the environment of hospitals.

Link to this comment
finitesolutions
10/30/09 at 4:36 am

"Patented by Sharklet Technologies"
It is patented by nature. All the money from the patent should go to shark protection.

Link to this comment
25th Scientist
10/30/09 at 8:31 am

Awesome stuff!
@ finitesolutions Certainly a significant portion of their profits should go to shark protection.

Link to this comment
crzyterp
10/30/09 at 9:34 am

"Bagan hopes to stick the skin on nursing call buttons, bed rails, tray tables and other surfaces by next year"

...and door knobs.

Link to this comment
Photoprinter
10/30/09 at 10:05 am

@finite & 25th. Are you guys serious? In that thinking, all aero industries should give all or some of there profits to bird or insect protection! How about all sport fishing industry giving all there profit to game fish protection. That would make Bass Pro Shop REAL happy, wouldn't it? Maybe DARPA should pay for whale, dolphin & bat protection for using sonar?

Link to this comment
finitesolutions
10/30/09 at 10:24 am

If I create a film with 3.0000000001 micrometer-wide diamond-shaped patterns do I have to pay pattern fees? Or if I use dried shark skin? ( a disaster )
It is good to know.

Link to this comment
podboq
10/31/09 at 6:42 am

<>

I've heard worse ideas... keep them coming!

Link to this comment
podboq
10/31/09 at 6:44 am

my comment was in response to Photoprinter's.... Popsci got rid of my quote automatically...

Link to this comment
bbossert
10/31/09 at 11:03 am

Hey could you use this on boats too?

Link to this comment
T1n M4n
11/01/09 at 2:57 pm

agreed franky. now why can't we do this more often?

Link to this comment
Jim Sadler
11/08/09 at 7:45 pm

This could be a real issue in the patent office. Shape, by itself, is hardly something that could lock into a traditional patent. In other words one patents a telephone by what it does not by the shape of the telephone.
This might open a door through which millions of designers seek patents.

Link to this comment
Albert0
11/05/10 at 10:24 am

Actually there are several types of patent, one being _Design Patents_. Design patents cover things like graphic design, appearance of an item etc.

For a really good example, check out this design patent from last year: www.google.com/patents?id=377KAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&source=gbs_overview_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false covers urns in the form of talking dolls in which to store the remains of a cremated loved one. Now, THAT's a great application of technology, wouldn't you say?


138 years of Popular Science at your fingertips.

Innovation Challenges

Make your ideas part of the revolution
Learn morePowered by Innocentive



Popular Science+ For iPad

Each issue has been completely reimagined for your iPad. See our amazing new vision for magazines that goes far beyond the printed page



Download Our App

Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone or Android phone with full articles, images and offline viewing



Follow Us On Twitter

Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed


January 2012: The New Science of Stealth

The first issue of 2012 is a great one: we've got stories on how to make planes, tanks, subs, and soldiers invisible. Also, how the U.S. is reengineering homeland security at the southern border, inside the deepest mine in the world, and our predictions for the year to come.


circ-top-header.gif
circ-cover.gif
bmxmag-ps