University Of Malta Scientists Developing Plasma Gun To Kill Viruses… Including COVID-19
A team of scientists from the University of Malta is currently working on a revolutionary disinfection method that uses plasma to kill microorganisms.
Plasma is one of four naturally occurring states of matter, the other three being solid, liquid and gas, and is the material that most weapons seen in science fiction movies use.
While not common on earth, it is believed to be the most common state of matter in the universe and consists of highly charged particles with extremely high energy.
The team of scientists is currently developing technology that will look to bring plasma guns from the sci-fi realm in modern-day healthcare, as a disinfectant against bacteria and viruses, like COVID-19.
The project, called SANITAS, is being led by Dr Jefferson de Oliveira Mallia, a research support officer with the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Malta and Dr Sholeem Griffin from the Centre for Biomedical Cybernetics.
It is being funded through Malta’s COVID-19 R&D Fund and came about rather serendipitously.
The researchers were originally working on a way of disinfecting seed for human consumption however with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, they quickly realised their work could have more general applications, according to a recent feature in the university publication THINK.
How does it work?
The World Health Organisation recommends that hand sanitizers contain between 86 and 96% ethanol and at least 3% hydrogen peroxide. Unfortunately, hydrogen peroxide has a very short shelf-life and is also very expensive to transport because of its hazardous nature.
This is where plasma comes in. In a nutshell, when the high-energy plasma hits water, hydrogen peroxide and other molecules known as reactive oxygen species are produced.
These molecules damage cells’ protective coatings, including those of viruses, bacteria and fungi, leading to their death.
The challenge now is to develop the technique into a viable product given the strict legislation governing anything intended for human use.
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