Israeli scientists have developed an antibacterial spray that prevents harmful infectious organisms from adhering to surfaces. The researchers say their invention can go a long way toward reducing the number of cases of hospital-acquired infections, an increasing problem around the world.

The spray, developed by a team of scientists headed by Dr. Meital Reches of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Institute of Chemistry, can also be used to keep marine organisms from clinging to the hulls of boats, reducing biocorrosion and the need for cleaning desalination units and cleaning and repairing hulls.

Theoretically, the spray could be used "to prevent infections in public places and water systems and even to coat fruit and vegetables on which colonies of harmful bacteria develop. It could be used to coat food packaging to prolong shelf life," Reches says.

Biofouling is the process by which organisms, from bacteria and fungus to barnacles and zebra mussels, adhere to a surface and reproduce.

The cost of repairing damage from marine biofouling worldwide has been estimated at $150 billion a year.

The findings were presented at the annual conference of the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, held in April 2013 at the Hebrew University. The researchers have applied for a U.S. patent for their coating, which has proved effective in the laboratory in preventing E. coli and pseudomonas, bacteria that are often implicated in hospital-acquired infections and that have become resistant to antibiotics, from adhering to surfaces including gold, titanium, glass and silicone.

"The agent generates a teflon-like, antifouling coating that prevents the adsorption of organisms to substrates. This coating can potentially prevent the adsorption of bacteria to medical devices and consequently reduces the number of hospital-acquired infections," Reches says.

"It is also highly relevant for the marine industry as it reduces the adsorption of marine organisms (such as barnacles and zebra mussels) to marine devices and therefore decreases biocorrosion and fuel consumption," she says.

The research assistants were Sivan Nir and Dr. Sibaprasad Maity.

The agent developed by the research team consists of short proteins called peptides, which, after synthesis in a laboratory, can combat biofouling by preventing the organisms' adsorption to various surfaces.

"The agent we developed carries out a self-assembly process on the surface, with the peptides serving as building blocks and clinging to one another like Lego blocks, on the basis of the molecular information they contain," says Reches.