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Scientists Put an End To Smelly Socks

Posted by samzenpus on from the never-do-laundry-again dept.

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."

14 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. Great... by msauve · · Score: 3, Insightful

    another way to breed resistant strains of dangerous pathogens.

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    1. Re:Great... by geekoid · · Score: 3, Informative

      depends on how it works.

      For example, alcohol based hand sanitizers can not be a vector for a 'resistant' germ.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  2. Better living through chemicals by Moof123 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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...

    1. Re:Better living through chemicals by geekoid · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You don't have any air contact your skin? no moisture? no cloths? hmm, maybe you should narrow it down from 'chemicals'?

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  3. Re:Hmm... by Literaphile · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let's see, contribute to the creation of a superbug, or wash my fucking socks? Decisions, decisions...

    You have socks just for fucking?

  4. Yes, Great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    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!

    1. Re:Yes, Great... by buback · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Since alcohol literally dissolves cell membranes, I'd be pretty impressed if they evolved past that impediment. Also remember that those bacteria that 'shit' alcohol are eventually killed off by all that 'shit'. That's why you can't brew vodka, but distill it instead.

    2. Re:Yes, Great... by Ossifer · · Score: 5, Informative

      Au contraire!

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambic

    3. Re:Yes, Great... by pclminion · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Some microbes literally shit alcohol.

      Such organisms consume food and excrete alcohol until the ambient concentration is too high for them to tolerate any longer. After years of selective breeding some yeasts have been produced that can tolerate up to about 22% ABV but it doesn't seem to go much higher than that.

      How many days could you take a shit in your living room until you could no longer tolerate it? I doubt any amount of evolutionary pressure could enable you to swim in a diarrhea swimming pool.

    4. Re:Yes, Great... by ImprovOmega · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because it would have to evolve a plastic coating that still magically performed all of the functions of the original cell membrane. It would be kind of like saying why can't human evolve a plastic coating over their lungs to defend against inhaling acid fumes. You would block what was killing you at the expense of ...well...killing you in a different and horrible way.

  5. Re:Only socks? by capedgirardeau · · Score: 5, Informative

    You need to update your talking points. Bedbugs were either in the process or already resistant to DDT in many areas.

    Please see:
    DDT resistance: once more, with tables and sources

    --
    Wax on, wax off baby!
  6. How it works by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

  7. Re:Hmm... by Abstrackt · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let's see, contribute to the creation of a superbug, or wash my fucking socks? Decisions, decisions...

    You have socks just for fucking?

    You don't?

    --
    They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett
  8. Just use Ammonium Alum by Twinbee · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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