Bioengineered chewing gum may offer a way to fight HPV and other microbes (sciencedaily.com)
71 points by Audiophilip 7 hours ago
wxw 3 hours ago
Tangentially related, apparently xylitol gum can reduce cavity risk by killing off bacteria (which cannot digest but cannot differentiate xylitol from regular sugar) in the mouth.
mdasen 2 hours ago
Xylitol is really cool that way. The bacteria waste energy trying to convert it to a form they can use, but they just end up with at a dead end with xylitol-5-phosphate. Once they realize that they need to get rid of it, they convert it back to xylitol (so it can cross the membrane easier and probably to keep the phosphate). Of course, that means the xylitol is back to fool some other nearby bacteria into wasting its energy.
They end up wasting their energy on work that won't help them reproduce and needing to waste more energy getting rid of it.
MengerSponge an hour ago
In that way I'm like a bacteria. "Ah beans, gotta undo all this work"
noisy_boy 2 hours ago
Alternative form of delivery required for Singapore.
grokcodec an hour ago
Not worth the time of day until it can be demonstrated that there is a net health benefit. Precautionary Principle FTW.
fsckboy 16 minutes ago
humans evolved to have risk seekers and risk avoiders. some people try it, the other people watch.
VladVladikoff 2 hours ago
I wonder if chewing mastic would be as effective?
shevy-java 4 hours ago
Sounds like an ad. "Eat this gum, it is so healthy."
stogot 4 hours ago
Gum is often made of plastics so won’t be surprised if cancerous themselves
fernly 4 hours ago
It says, "involving chewing gum made from lablab beans (bean gum)".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lablab --
Taiwanese researchers found that a carbohydrate-binding protein (i.e. a legume lectin) from lablab beans effectively blocks the infections of influenza viruses and SARS-CoV-2.[60] Researchers from Finland and USA found that extracts from chewing gum manufactured from lablab bean seeds had broad-spectrum anti-viral properties, likely due to the binding action of Flt3 Receptor Interacting Lectin (FRIL) on viruses; the anti-viral effect was similar to that of purified FRIL
jerbearito 3 hours ago
dyauspitr 3 hours ago
Hunh I always assumed it was just some kind of modified natural rubber but it’s literally plastic (PVAc, PIB) that release microplastics into the saliva.