Read the full story at: Clean Air Act
As one visitor has already pointed out, testing a filter with E coli is not going to prove that it would work for microbes that produce spores, and certainly doesn’t prove anything for viruses. The researchers are aware of this. Their work does show that the catalytic system can kill bacteria effectively and they are currently expanding the technology to work with “real” pathogens.
E. coli is a Gram-negative bacteria that does not form spores. It is therefore an awful choice to test in an air filter. E. coli doesn’t survive drying very well and is usually passed around in fluids or wet surfaces. This includes, unfortunately, wherever fresh little flecks of poo may be left (pets, hamburger, bathroom doorknobs, the village well…). One would expect aerosolized E. coli to die fairly quickly.
If they had chosen a Gram-positive spore former (perhaps a common soil Bacillus), then I’d be impressed, as that category includes anthrax, a dangerous airborne pathogen that can survive for decades as a dry spore. Viruses would be a different matter yet.
Thanks for your comment.
I did wonder about that too and asked the researchers about actual tests on spore-forming microbes and whether they were likely to get the system to work on viruses. They told me the work is ongoing. In their defence they say they used E coli as a model on size grounds and to show that it could be killed. But, I do take your point.