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Stiff gels slow germs: Mapping the hydrogel properties that control bacterial growth
- February 11, 2026 at 8:36 PM
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Hydrogels are soft, jelly-like materials that can absorb large amounts of water. They are widely used in medical technologies such as contact lenses and wound dressings, and are also a staple of laboratory research, where they are used to grow bacteria. But scientists have long struggled to explain why some hydrogels readily support bacterial growth while others appear to suppress it.
Originally published at Phys.org