Using a novel approach to microbe killing, a team of researchers has made a new coating that could render countertops, computer keyboards, and even hospital sheets permanently antiseptic.
Unlike most antibacterial treatments, which lose microbe-repelling power as their active components leach out, the new surface coating has an enduring, built-in chemistry for killing bacteria on contact, says team member Kim Lewis, a microbiologist at Tufts University in Medford, Mass.