Who knew the future of virus eradication would take inspiration from those spike strips cops use to blow out the tires of a fleeing car? That’s basically the idea here, except instead of shredding rubber, researchers have figured out how to tear viruses apart using microscopic spikes embedded in plastic.

In a study published in Advanced Science, an international team developed a flexible acrylic film covered in densely packed nanopillars, each about 60 nanometers apart, roughly a thousand times thinner than a human hair. When viruses land on this surface, they are stretched across multiple spikes until their outer layer is shredded into ribbons.

Should this technology find a practical, real-world application, it could change the way we space. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we coated the world in germ-killing chemicals, which came at the cost of toxicity, causing environmental harm and, of course, the looming issue of antimicrobial resistance. This new technique sidesteps all that by focusing on blunt force trauma. Good old-fashioned violence, but aimed at a threat that actually deserves the pain.

Scientists Found a Wild New Way to Kill Viruses. Does It Work?

Scientists from around the world have been trying to create bacteria-killing surfaces that emulate those found in nature, such as insect wings. They kept running into the same problem again and again: viruses are so small and much harder to kill with a physical object than with a chemical, which, as I mentioned, has its downsides.

The breakthrough here is in the spacing of the little plastic spikes, not in their height. Pack enough of those nanopillars close enough together, and multiple spikes can stretch the virus apart all at once, generating enough force to destroy it. Essentially, drawing and quartering the virus like it was an enemy of an old English king.

In lab tests against human parainfluenza virus type 3, about 94 percent of viral particles were neutralized within an hour. The virus’s genetic material remained intact, confirming that it’s the physical rupture, and not a chemical reaction, that stops infection.

On top of all that, it’s a fairly neat and practical solution. The material is cheap and flexible, and can be easily manufactured using existing methods and machines. The researchers theorize that it can potentially be used on any surface anywhere, including phone screens, hospital equipment, and public transit services, a.k.a. all the places viruses love to hang out.

The researchers still have to see the variety of viruses this tech can destroy, since they have only tested one type of virus so far. They also have to test them outside lab conditions, as real-world conditions have many more variables that are much harder to control. But if the results hold, it could mean we may one day live in a world where the wide variety of surfaces that make up our everyday world can actively fight viruses on our behalf.