The last seasonal item from the
holidays comes from a team of researchers in Allahabad, India that
are in the process of developing a compound derived from the needles
of the Douglas fir to help coat nano medical devices and combat
infection.
One of the largest hurdles for biomedical devices is that bacteria
invade implant sites, prosthetics, and tissues. The bionanocomposite
from the Douglas fir could potentially cover implants and ward off
microbial growth. Combining an extract from from the Douglas fir
needles with silver nitrate solution, the team has created silver
nanoparticles that can make a coating. The needle extract serves as
a natural chemical reducing agent that converts silver ions in the
nitrate solution into tiny nanoscopic silver metal particles