Innovation on the horizon for biotech students
Algonquin College students will be involved in developing a cost-effective and eco-friendly disinfectant spray to be used in hospitals and industrial settings, starting this fall.
The project will be spearheaded by Melanie Brown, a professor at the Department of Applied Science and Environmental Technology. The project is called Phage Bomb, and students will be partnering with Qeen Biotechnologies Inc. from Gatineau, Que.
The word phage refers to a naturally occurring class of microorganisms that target specific kinds of bacteria.
A question that might arise in anyone’s mind is, why not just use Lysol as a disinfectant? It’s cheap and it supposedly kills “99.9 per cent” of all germs.
According to the project, using the chemicals found in Lysol on an industrial scale over time would be a bad idea for aquatic ecosystems and our water supply. It’s as bad an idea for the ecosystem as drinking Lysol would be for fighting off a stomach bug.
According to a study published by American Society for Microbiology, the chemicals in Lysol not only kill the harmful bacteria, but they also kill the beneficial ones in your gut. More importantly, they would kill the cells in your body if you were to drink it. Flushing out copious quantities of these chemicals into the water supply would have a similar effect on our ecosystem.
If only we could invent a disinfectant that only kills the harmful bacteria and leaves other life forms alone.
It turns out, nature has already done that in the form of a naturally occurring, life-saving organism called a bacteriophage, nicknamed phage. These phages are among the earliest, most abundant and diverse organisms on the planet.
“Each kind of phage only targets specific strains of bacteria. For example, there are phages that only target E. coli bacteria, and nothing else,” said Brown.
Over millions of years, different kinds of phages have evolved alongside bacteria like E. coli, and they are a natural part of our ecosystem. The challenge for student researchers is to find a way to harness this natural piece of technology to benefit us and not harm other lifeforms.
The idea behind Phage Bomb is to isolate and engineer phages that target specific infectious bacteria that pose a threat in hospital settings. The final product would be a disinfectant spray containing a potent concoction of various kinds of phages, selected to combat infectious and even multidrug-resistant bacteria.
“Qeen Biotech has been at the forefront of using bacteriophage-based solutions to serve diverse industries including life sciences, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and veterinary medicine. We’re excited about this opportunity to share our innovation insights with the students,” said Dr. Nancy Tawil, CEO of Qeen Biotechnology.
According to the scope of the project, Phage Bomb could ultimately provide an eco-friendly alternative to chemical disinfectants and decontaminants in industrial and hospital settings.
