Chewing Gum traps coronavirus by neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 in the saliva, thereby providing a simple and inexpensive way to possibly reduce the very source of disease transmission.
SARS-CoV-2 replicates in our salivary glands, and when an infected person sneezes, coughs or speaks some of this virus may be expelled and spread to others.
While COVID-19 vaccinations have helped bring the pandemic under check, they haven’t stopped transmission. Even fully vaccinated people can still become infected with SARS-CoV-2 and can have a viral load almost similar to unvaccinated people.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a chewing gum that contains a protein grown in lettuce and this could cut COVID-19 transmission by neutralizing the viruses present in the oral cavity.
Chewing Gum Traps Coronavirus:
A team of researchers have developed a chewing gum infused with a plant-grown protein that’s serves as a “trap” for the Coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, thereby mitigating its transmission.
The work, headed by Henry Daniell at the Penn’s School of Dental Medicine and carried out in collaboration with scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Veterinary Medicine, as well as scientists from The Wistar Institute and Fraunhofer USA, may possible lead to an inexpensive tool in the arsenal against the Coronavirus pandemic.
The cinnamon-flavoured chewing gum is laced with lettuce-grown ACE2 proteins and could possibly reduce the spread of COVID-19
ACE2 Role In Coronavirus Spread:
ACE2 – a protein – plays a key role in COVID-19 transmission. It is present on the outside of several cells in our bodies. The coronavirus’ spike protein attaches to it to gain access to those cells — if ACE2 is the lock then the spike protein is the key.
Previous research indicates that ACE2 injections can lower the viral load in severely affected COVID-positive patients. The viruses’ spikes attach themselves to these free-floating proteins rather than the ones on our cells.
Lettuce and ACE2:
Way before the pandemic began, Henry Daniell, the lead researcher, had developed a way to make lettuce plants produce ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2) which he required for his research on treating hypertension.
The lettuce can then be freeze-dried and crushed into powder, providing Daniell a more economical source of the protein than the more expensive traditional production process.
Daniell had also helped develop a chewing gum containing lettuce-grown proteins intended to prevent dental plaque.
With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Daniell thought of combining these two inventions. He contacted Ronald Collman, a virologist at Penn Medicine, to check if a chewing gum containing his ACE2 proteins could help ease the spread of COVID-19.
Chewing Gum Reduces Coronavirus Transmission:
Together, they developed a chewing gum with cinnamon-flavor, infused with lettuce-grown ACE2 proteins. Then they blended a powdered form of the chewing gum with saliva samples taken from people infected with coronavirus.
Some of these lettuce-grown ACE2 proteins attached themselves to the coronavirus’ spike protein, directly neutralizing it. Others jammed the human ACE2 receptors present on the covid patients’ cells. This stopped the spike protein from getting into the cells.
Consequently, the viral load in the patients’ saliva samples treated with this gum was cut by 95% as compared to saliva samples blended with a placebo (only gum minus the proteins).
According to researchers, it’s possible to produce hundreds of millions of pieces of this cinnamon-flavoured chewing gum in about three months. This gum tastes just like the regular gum, is effective for upto five hours, and stays stable at room temperature.
While the gum won’t stop people from being infected with SARS-CoV-2, it could be given to those visiting a hospital, doctor’s chamber, or other public venue — that could prevent people who are not yet aware they’re infected from spreading the disease to others.
While people already use masks to prevent chances of transmission, this chewing gum could be an additional weapon in that fight.
FDA Permission For Plant-Based Chewing Gum:
While it’s definitely appealing to think of chewing gum being able to mitigate COVID transmission, researchers still need to address a number of issues before we can start munching our way safely out of this pandemic.
Those include finding out whether this gum is as effective at cutting down viral load present in an actual mouth, which contains bacteria as well as other microbes, as it’s in a lab.
We don’t have to wait long for these issues to be addressed as researchers are already having discussions with FDA regarding launching a clinical trial of this chewing gum.