Development of Antiamoebic Contact Lens Surfaces: A Green Fabrication Approach

Contact lens wearers face a growing risk from *Acanthamoeba*—a hardy microbe that can cause severe eye infections—because the antimicrobials used in lens disinfectants are losing effectiveness as resistance spreads. This project replaces those chemicals with a physical approach: it uses a green, non-chemical method to sculpt microscopic surface features directly onto contact lenses, creating a texture that prevents microbes from sticking in the first place. The problem is that current disinfection relies on chemical agents, which are increasingly failing against drug-resistant strains. This research fills a gap by offering a resistance-proof alternative—physical surface design rather than chemical attack. If successful, the work could lead to next-generation contact lenses that resist both amoebae and bacteria without relying on antimicrobials. That would reduce the risk of blinding eye infections for millions of users, and the same surface-engineering principles could extend to other medical devices, such as catheters or implants, where microbial adhesion is a persistent problem. The project also explores the fundamental molecular processes of *Acanthamoeba* differentiation through epigenetics, advancing basic understanding of how pathogens interact with surfaces.