How and why can some metals like copper be antibacterial?
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The best way to think about it is that copper, at a microscopic level, is a form of “spikey”. Not in a physical sense, but in a biological sense, because ions (charged bits that naturally form as electrons zip around) on the surface of the copper are able to poke holes in cells. Mind you, this is all cells, including ours, but our skin has an outer layer of dead cells that help protect the living ones so its not such a big deal. Even if it was to come in contact with living cells, it would just cause some irritation as long as its not being directly exposed to something like your nerves (in which case you have bigger issues, such as how did metallic copper get into your body in the first place).
Now, for single cell organisms, a pierced cell is pretty bad. We can shrug it off since we repopulate cells pretty rapidly, and can afford to lose a few thousand without even noticing it. But if all you have is the one cell, when it gets pierced its pretty much a death sentence.
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