In dressing and treating wounds dressings from a spider's network "made" by ... bacteria can be used soon - artificial silk with antibacterial properties was created thanks to several years of research by British scientists.
I think we all remember this scene with "Fire and Sword" - after the battle between Wołodyjowski and Bohun, in which the other one wounded, Zagloba cries out to those who are watching the incident: Graces, gentlemen! Take it to the inn! You have to dress it, bread with a spider web ...
Kiemlicz in "Potopie" similarly wounded wounds, the ancient Greeks and Romans did, who put cobwebs on the ground with a mixture of honey and vinegar cleaned with it.
Specialist from spiders and chemist
This is the best proof that the spider's web has long been used in medicine, although there were no scientific studies that would explain "how it works". Folk medicine did without them, but it was effective. It was also the starting point for scientific research. The starting point for the creation of the thread accelerating the regeneration of tissues and at the same time having a bactericidal property was, by contrast, an accidental meeting of a spider expert with a professor of chemistry.
Dr. Sara Goodacre, this spider specialist, had to suggest stories about the networks she was working with, suggesting that her prof. Neil Thomas, a chemist, was enthusiastic about her idea to try to create a spider web in laboratory conditions. In this way, scientists from the University of Nottihgham began work, which resulted in a discovery that could revolutionize the treatment of wounds, including hard to heal and burns.
Cooperation with bacteria
Spiders used bacteria to create a spider webEscherichia coli.Similarly, as their colleagues from Germany, the universities of Bayreuth, did before, they removed the bacteria from pathogenic properties, but instead applied genes from spiders. As a consequence, the bacteria began to produce fibers in the form of spider threads, equally strong and at the same time more flexible. Next, the obtained material was equipped with additional properties, soaking with a synthetic antibacterial drug, levofloxacin. In this way, they created a silk dressing with bactericidal properties (from which the active substance is released slowly - thanks to this the dressing is active for at least five days), suitable for direct application to the wound, facilitating its capping by stimulating the growth of new tissues.
The advantage of antibacterial synthetic silk should also be that it is based on a protein that does not cause inflammation or allergic reactions.
Currently, work is underway on the commercial use of silk in wound healing and tissue regeneration. According to the researchers, it can be used, inter alia, in the treatment of diabetic foot, which is a common problem of diabetics and often ends in foot amputation. Dressings made on the basis of artificial silk can also be used in the fight against pain, if painkillers are applied to the material.