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Scientists Put an End To Smelly Socks
athe!st writes "A new anti-microbial treatment that can make clothing — including smelly socks — permanently germ-free has been developed by US scientists. In a paper published in the American Chemical Society journal Applied Materials and Interfaces, Dr Jason Locklin and his colleagues state that the treatment kills a wide range of dangerous pathogens, including staph, strep, E. coli, pseudomonas and acinetobacter."
another way to breed resistant strains of dangerous pathogens.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
for my ugg boots.
They smell pretty bad and it grosses the fiancee out.
Until the resistant variety comes along, that is.
What's wrong with just washing the damn things?
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
Hospital bed sheets would be my first use.
The force that blew the Big Bang continues to accelerate.
Am I the only one who has grown cautious of putting chemicals on my skin, in close contact, for many hours of the day? We'll either end up with a super bug or foot cancer...
Much like antibiotics does this not help create resistant germs and ultimately makes some of those dangerous pathogens harder to kill? Even more so since it is constantly in contact with and battle against said pathogens?
I'll meet you at the intersection of "Should be" and "Reality"
Let's see, contribute to the creation of a superbug, or wash my fucking socks? Decisions, decisions...
Yes, but they are doing that anyway.
As someone else pointed out, this should be being used in hospitals. This probably should not be being used in something as trivial as socks. One of the problems we're seeing with resistant bacteria is due to the overuse of antibiotics. Perhaps we need a multi-pronged approach?
Why they don't want to live in the clothing, maybe they know something you don't.
Scientists have created a thing, made out of atoms, that can PERMANENTLY eliminate any possibility of other atoms being arranged in such a fashion as to inconvenience me? Huzzah! An infinite number of solutions posted to problems seemingly thought to be unsolvable in polynomial time! Mathematics has been defeated! Long live ...US SCIENTISTS!
morons.
If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
What makes you think microbes cannot be resistant to alcohol? Some microbes literally shit alcohol.
Unicellular life has a much easier time evolving than we do. Lining up 3 trillion cells to work together at all amazes me, & I'm doing that right now!
The effort some people will go to just to avoid having to do the laundry.
It's really hard to make socks that fit on guinea pigs.
Then we can throw away our pocket protectors and blend into society.
I got to the chocolate box before you, that's why the hard ones have teeth marks.
Vinegar and rubbing alcohol will do a fine job of creating a microbe-free zone, but you might smell a bit more like sour wine than you'd like.
I normally don't post on slashdot, but since this is related to my field (I am a chemist) and there have been a lot of comments about how bad this must be because of the possibility of building resistance, I felt obligated to clarify this after looking into it.
As far as anti-microbial substances work, this is about as simple as it gets. All bacteria have cell membranes consisting of a lipid bilayer - it's basically two layers of negatively-charged water-loving stuff attached to a fatty part in the middle that stays away from water. This treatment uses a polymer that can pass through the cell membrane, with positively-charged bits making it inside the membrane. The positively-charged parts on the polymer attract the negatively-charged parts on the membrane and cause it to come apart enough for the cell to die.
Many other antibiotics are based on small molecules that interrupting some metabolic process of bacteria. Bacteria develop resistance by making enzymes that will break down these small molecules once inside the cell. This new method attacks the outside of the cell directly, not something inside the cell. It wouldn't be impossible for bacteria to develop immunity to this, but it would be comparably very improbable.
We're all gonna die!
BAH - They've been promising this stuff for over ten years now. I remember seeing it on that show "Beyond 2000" back in '98... Still waiting for it
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
To all the people posting about ultra-resistant super MRSA mega death bacteria forming because I crack open a bottle of Dawn occasionally, haven't you ever heard of defense in depth? Also, what about this study which suggests that a combination of antibiotics may be more effective against resistant bugs? This shit happens all the time on /. Whatever trendy counter-intuitive "wisdom" there is on a subject is repeated and subsequently shit on ad nauseum. Isn't this the home of RTFA?
While this might eliminate cleaning due to bacteria, this won't resolve the issue of dirt built up.
As to socks, just wear sandals :)
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
47 comments and no one noticed that the link was broken? Sure there's a BBC link, but it tells you exactly nothing. Doesn't even tell you what it is. I know slashdotters seldom read the articles, but come on.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
That's why I only use natural ingredients in my shoe deodorizer: onions and peaches.
It's even endorsed by the baseball legend Clyde "Sweet Feet" Livingston!
Gas, bloating, confusion, reverse mermaid, anal leakage, suicide, bad breath, explosive diarrhea, fire, missing teeth, unexpected death, unexplained pregnancy, moles, sawdust, traffic congestion, slight bleeding from the ear canal, voice immodulation, income tax, vaginal leakage( in men), religious intolerance, elves, anal fissures, webbed toes, sleep-driving, and rectal myopia.
This sig is not paradoxical or ironic.
thx, was looking for that
also, clicky
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/am200324f
Most men's 9-12 socks will cover a guinea pig almost perfectly.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
Okay here's a semi-secret which shouldn't be so secret. I use something called PitRok Crystal Deodorant (perhaps try this if you're US based), but any Ammonium Alum based deodorant will be good. It's meant for the armpits, but I find it works good on feet too. 5 stars on Amazon.co.uk by almost everyone including me.
I only wish I knew about this sooner. It's completely odorless and nonsticky, which is great, but also lasts over a year (you wet its hard crystal tip and apply). Anybody who benefits from this, feel free to buy me a beer or 10 according to how generous you feel.
Why OpalCalc is the best Windows calc
And since nobody probably will click on that link either, here's a convenient summary
Antimicrobial copolymers of hydrophobic N-alkyl and benzophenone containing polyethylenimines were synthesized from commercially available linear poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline), and covalently attached to surfaces of synthetic polymers, cotton, and modified silicon oxide using mild photo-cross-linking. Specifically, these polymers were applied to polypropylene, poly(vinyl chloride), polyethylene, cotton, and alkyl-coated oxide surfaces using solution casting or spray coating and then covalently cross-linked rendering permanent, nonleaching antimicrobial surfaces. The photochemical grafting of pendant benzophenones allows immobilization to any surface that contains a C–H bond. Incubating the modified materials with either Staphylococcus aureus or Escherichia coli demonstrated that the modified surfaces had substantial antimicrobial capacity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (>98% microbial death).
For folks not in the "know", the basic anti-microbial technique is described in this wiki page.
tfa doesn't mention if they are using silver nanonparticles or no but a lot of times the side effects of these wonder chemicals are worse than the malady.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028114025.htm
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
The antimicrobial action is hypothesized to be largely physical (disruption of the cell membrane leading to cell death). Barring some relatively significant mutations that greatly change the overall structure of the bacteria, a "resistance" would be relatively unlikely.
Here is the actual article link, since it's busted in the summary:
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/am200324f
or
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/am200324f
Abstract:
One-Step Photochemical Synthesis of Permanent, Nonleaching, Ultrathin Antimicrobial Coatings for Textiles and Plastics
Antimicrobial copolymers of hydrophobic N-alkyl and benzophenone containing polyethylenimines were synthesized from commercially available linear poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline), and covalently attached to surfaces of synthetic polymers, cotton, and modified silicon oxide using mild photo-cross-linking. Specifically, these polymers were applied to polypropylene, poly(vinyl chloride), polyethylene, cotton, and alkyl-coated oxide surfaces using solution casting or spray coating and then covalently cross-linked rendering permanent, nonleaching antimicrobial surfaces. The photochemical grafting of pendant benzophenones allows immobilization to any surface that contains a C–H bond. Incubating the modified materials with either Staphylococcus aureus or Escherichia coli demonstrated that the modified surfaces had substantial antimicrobial capacity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (>98% microbial death).
"I defy the second law of thermodynamics."
"The hell you do. Get back in the box."
"Locklin's technology uses ingeniously simple, inexpensive and scalable chemistry."
I've heard almost the same thing about "free energy" magnetic motors. Tell us what the chemicals are or it's bullshit.
Somehow I think using bullshit would make your feet smell more (but admittedly it wouldn't be the typical foot smell) :-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Most men's 9-12 socks will cover a guinea pig almost perfectly.
You know this for a fact, do you? Why exactly is that?
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
How long until this stuff makes it's way into panties?
"Liechtenstein is the world's largest producer of sausage casings, potassium storage units, and false teeth."
I normally don't post on slashdot, but since this is related to my field (I am a chemist) and there have been a lot of comments about how bad this must be because of the possibility of building resistance, I felt obligated to clarify this after looking into it.
As far as anti-microbial substances work, this is about as simple as it gets. All bacteria have cell membranes consisting of a lipid bilayer - it's basically two layers of negatively-charged water-loving stuff attached to a fatty part in the middle that stays away from water. This treatment uses a polymer that can pass through the cell membrane, with positively-charged bits making it inside the membrane. The positively-charged parts on the polymer attract the negatively-charged parts on the membrane and cause it to come apart enough for the cell to die.
Many other antibiotics are based on small molecules that interrupting some metabolic process of bacteria. Bacteria develop resistance by making enzymes that will break down these small molecules once inside the cell. This new method attacks the outside of the cell directly, not something inside the cell. It wouldn't be impossible for bacteria to develop immunity to this, but it would be comparably very improbable.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
That I would agree with.
The problem is the "evolution" part of the discussion. Some people just shut down and refuse to talk about any further because it can't exist and is too contentious of a conversation.
Explaining that evolution can exist as a process, does exist as a process, and we don't need to discuss origins of life is difficult.
However, if we lose the race with the bacteria and there are a lot of super strains that start making it out the public it will make it pretty hard to deal with the truth then. Unless it devolves into the Black Plague again and it was just a "punishment" from God.
I think it is a no-brainer. Only use it when it is in a setting that is required. Sick people stay the hell home, and stop contributing to the problem.
Hospitals should be using every technology possible to eliminate viruses and bacteria because sick people come there. Using it for your socks because you can't do a load of laundry? That's just laziness.
Another case of The Simpsons come to life.
Homer: So, a graduate student, huh? How come they can send a man to the moon but can't make my shoes smell good?
Ashley Grant: I'm sorry?
Homer: Ah, nobody's blamin' you.
Go, and never darken my towels again! -- Rufus
Given microbes can survive high temperature thermal vents, concentrated heavy metals in mining waste ponds, high pressures a mile underground, low pressures and cosmic rays in space, etc, I would say it's probably only a matter of time.
Korma: Good
I thought it said Scientists Put an End To Smelly *ock. (rhymes with sock)
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
And its been bothering me. I mean have you seen those hand gels people are always slathering on? They seem to forget the .1% that it doesnt kill. Its like, congrats, you just made your hands a cess pool by removing all the competition a microbe that is already resistant to our best efforts would normally have!
The only thing that nears that level of stupidity would be preemptively dosing all our herd animals with anitbiotics by default. But thats so insanely reckless that theres no way wed ever allow it. ...We do? Oh. Thats not good. :/
we could have kicked unemployment down by a couple ten-thousand by hiring people to wash scrubs and keep things clean, and at the same time reduced bacteria in hospitals, which would have prevented countless infections (actually not countless, some people have done studies on this type of thing).
but no. fuck that. lets fire all the janitors and clotheswashers and invent weird new chemical experiments that probably might work maybe, because some investment banker needs to pay-off the maserati he wrecked on his last coke and whore binge.
SuperGermKiller - what it really kills is all those lazy union laborers fucking up your numbers at your hospital administration job!
and cutting 'expenses' of proper floor cleaning and bathroom cleaning....
oh fuck it.
had no life forms too...
the fount of a thousand 'wheres my jetpack' jokes.
Wool does this naturally.... it's microscopic physical structure is such that bacteria has a difficult time attaching to it physically. When I switched to wool socks I permanently eliminated smelly feet, and they're much more comfortable even in hot weather. Once again, scientists develop a "novel" solution to a problem nature solved much more elegantly long ago. Wool literally evolved for the explicit purpose in which humans use clothing for: keeping mammals comfortable and healthy in a wide range of climates... and it has a complicated structure that gives it unique properties to this end that have yet to be replicated by synthetics.
Although mr AC described the generic anti-microbial action of the chemical on the bacteria, the breakthrough is really how you can "spray" the anti-microbial chemical to stick on-to things w/o blending the anti-microbial chemicals into the materials during the manufacturing process.
Basically this is the anti-microbial polymer technique described by the wiki that I pointed to in my original posting. You embed your anti-microbial chemical (in this case polyethylenimines or PEI) into a N-alkyl polymer, mix in some sunblock (that's the benzophenone which is basically sunblock for plastics, which isn't the same as the human usable type of organic chemical sunblock which is called avobenzone) and it creates something that sticks to your clothes when you spray it on and has the anti-microbial chemical embeded into it.
I'd be pretty impressed if they evolved past that impediment
- Mycobacteria (as those causing Tuberculosis) have thick reinforced waxy cell walls, which can withstand alcohol, for example.
- P. Aeruginosas also protect themselves (polysaccharids and biofilms) and have evolved to be able to digest quite a lot of organic compound. They'll resist alcohol, and try drinking it too.
- not a living bacteria, but lots of bacterial spores can withstand a crazy vast amount of abuse, and stay unharmed (that the whole point of spores).
And for whatever other physical hard-limit you may dream of (and which should effectively kill most of the regular bacteria), there is always bound to exist some obscure extremophile able not only to survive, but thriving in these extreme conditions.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
When friends taste my homebrew, they sometimes ask me how I got the alcohol in there. I tell them that the yeast eats the sugars, pisses alcohol and farts carbon dioxide. For some reason, that I can't fathom, they loose their appetite for my brew at that point.
keeps the doctor away!
/burp
Any just how am I suppose to discern which of my clothes are good-to-go that morning? Seriously though, this could be huge for outdoor clothing used by hikers and the like. No more smelling ripe after a week in the bush. It could also allow clothing to last longer because most of the damage it takes these days is from the washing machines. We often wash clothing that has very little actual dirt on it, but a little sweat and oil with bacteria that smells.
I know a few people i could spray this stuff in there shoes....and mine of course, but more theirs...
Thalidomide was taken orally. Do you take your socks orally?
Thirty seconds of Google show that it is a polymeric quaternary amine.
This is true, and I disagree with GP also. However, it can kill "good" bacteria, which is a vector for infection by more dangerous microbes.
I8-D
Incorrect. Quaternary amines have always been "spray on". The breakthrough here is that the quat is in the backbone of the polymer. This allows for a more robust coating than the previous standard, where the quat was attached via a trimethoxysilane group, which only lasted for some 25 washes or so. That method was also "spray on", or "put into the fabric softener holder in your washing machine and wash the clothes you want to coat", which is available commercially.
It's really hard to make socks that fit on guinea pigs feet.
FTFY. Of course it's easy to fit a guinea pig inside a sock, I'd imagine.
...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
Am I the only one who has grown cautious of putting electronics on my ear, in close contact, for many hours of the day? We'll either end up with a super AI or WiFi headaches...