BACTERIA looking to make a home on medical implants such as replacement hips are in for a shock.
Researchers at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia have chemically bonded the antibiotic vancomycin to the metal titanium for the first time. They hope it could pave the way for infection-proof implants.
“Our technique puts a bed of antibiotic thorns on the surface of the implant,” says biochemist Eric Wickstrom, who led the research (Chemistry and Biology, vol 12, p 1041). The antibiotic is bonded to titanium via silicon-containing silane molecules.
If clinical tests are successful the bacteriocidal implants could be in…
