PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Pantnagar
The G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology claimed that an anti-bacterial plastic developed by its scientists would relieve people of the hassle of repeatedly sterilizing plastic equipment used in food processing and packaging, including surgical syringes, due to contamination. Sharing details, the GBPUAT sources said that two university scientists, MGH Zaidi and Rita Goyal have succeeded in making the antibacterial plastic through 11 years of hard work helped by application of a special technology. Last Saturday, this technology was transferred to Biotech Consortium India Limited after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) had been signed between the two institutions in the GBPUAT’s vice chancellor’s auditorium.
Explaining things, Zaidi said that currently, with the increase in the country’s population, people’s dependence on hospitals is increasing due to surging infections. “There are not enough hospitals according to the population ratio nor are there adequate facilities available in them. As a result, microbial infections are also increasing due to overcrowding in hospitals and patients suffering from various types of infections. Generally, many strains of the same bacteria are found. This antibacterial plastic was developed in 2020. It can be used in labs where viruses, bacteria or fungi are cultured,” he said.
He further said: “When we culture any bacteria in the lab, other pathogens (like fungus) also grow along with it. This confuses the microbiologists.”
During the MoU, the VC, GBPPUAT, Manmohan Singh Chauhan congratulated the team of scientists who made antibacterial plastic and said that all the materials and nano particles used in the making of this plastic are human friendly.
