Indian researchers have developed an ointment derived from wood that can speed up healing of burn injuries, check infection and preclude the need for repeated dressings. The starting point of the unique water-based gel is lignin, the major component of wood (15-30 percent) and one of the most abundant renewable feedstock. “This hydrogel has multiple uses.
It is a dressing material, an anti-infective ointment, a drug carrier and also has anti-inflammatory properties,” scientist of OMICS Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, University of North Bengal (NBU), told IANS about the innovation documented in Nature Scientific Reports in April this year. Explaining the motivation for the work, Chakraborty highlighted the clever mechanism adopted by bacteria in infecting the burn wounds and avoiding the destructive effects of antibiotics. “What happens in burn wound when patients suffer from…
