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t1_iryf8d7 wrote

Reply to comment by in "New antibiotic hiding in diseased potatoes thwarts fungal infections in plants and humans" by

So in addition to this we’ve discovered I think 2 other things recently.

  1. Led lights that produce UV that won’t hurt people
  2. Phages to kill bacteria

I think there was a third, but I’m tired.

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t1_irz0vpc wrote

Copper alloys being used on surfaces to naturally repel bacteria is a huge one.

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t1_irzout5 wrote

If I could build a house, all knobs are brass

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t1_irzxkrk wrote

I do have a house with all brass doorknobs, had them since 1880s. Don’t mistake time passing for progress.

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t1_is0oxbz wrote

Yeah but were they put in for antimicrobial properties or just because humans have always liked shiny things.

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t1_irzw54z wrote

Indians drink water in copper utensils because we are taught that it helps with digestion. In my home every one has their own copper water bottle instead of a plastic one.

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t1_irzwfcj wrote

I’m gonna try using hollowed out potato water bottles

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t1_irzwt8o wrote

Po'a'o wo'o'bo'ols?

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t1_irzy4yt wrote

you can try, better line it with copper wires for extra affect.

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t1_is01830 wrote

Might end up accidentally making a potato battery and shocking their mouth.

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t1_is0d04j wrote

Wouldn’t that ensure the bacteria stay in the water instead of landing on the drink bottle walls?

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t1_is0g0tm wrote

You don't need to build the house lol. You can just replace the door knobs with brass ones. In fact you could do this right now, in a rental. When your lease is up, switch back in the old door knobs and take the brass door knobs with you.

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t1_is0dfg6 wrote

We've known this one for a while. Copper and silver are great surfaces with antimicrobial properties.

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t1_irzvafi wrote

That's literally been known for thousands of years by most of the world though. It's just Europeans & Americans that have denied it because they're traditionally slow on the uptake for historically simple medical solutions and also they'd rather use stainless steel on surfaces because it's cheaper.

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t1_is1rpz0 wrote

In the Balkans, it is traditional to drink from copper vessels for water and coffee. Also in the same region, archeologists have discovered copper used at jewelry, and in burial rituals for thousands of years.

Now I don't know enough about use of copper in Native American culture, but they did use silver, which has antibacterial properties.

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t1_is0rpii wrote

Oil and big Pharma changed all that in the late 1800’s early 1900’s .. most people don’t even know spearmint can repel spiders from homes. Now it’s these products that are recommended etc etc instead of the natural approach while trying to save our climate. Lol

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t1_irz4vog wrote

  1. Its relatively easy to make UV Leds that don't hurt people (UVA) while it is very hard to make LEDs that can do UVC to kill germs or fuck up your skin or retina. There are some LEDs http://www.cel.com/pdf/press/cel_uvc-leds_03262019.pdf but the output is low and they are expensive and inefficient CFL is much better at that job.

  2. Phage therapy is ancient. The soviets experimented a lot with that. It was phased out by antibiotics.

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t1_is05d2l wrote

UVA can penetrate the skin up to the derma which is not ideal. UVB are the ones that stop in the epidermis.

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t1_irzp0tt wrote

Recall phages used as antibiotic used for long time. Eastern Europe/Georgia think still use or at least during postdocs of colleagues?

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t1_irzqpup wrote

They're interesting but incredibly specific. Most antibiotics are gram positive or gram negative targeting and petty much nukes everything in that spectrum. It's easier and cheaper than engineering viruses for a specific bacterium.

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