Good News for Diabetics: Israeli Scientists Engineer Super Enzyme to Detect Glucose Levels Hana Levi Julian
A team of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev life sciences researchers
recently engineered a new super enzyme that can detect glucose in the
blood stream much more precisely – an important capability for those
with Diabetes.
People with Diabetes must continually check their glucose levels to
make sure their insulin levels do not tip too low or too high. The
enzyme detects glucose but is not sensitive to other commonly found
substances in the bloodstream such as vitamins or pain killers, which
often mislead glucose measurements.
The findings of the research have just been published in the Journal
of the American Chemical Society.
In addition to much clearer readings, the enzyme produces much quicker
responses, thus lowering the test-taking time.
Standard tests have generally relied on a protein to cause a chemical
reaction and oxidize the glucose and turn it into a different
molecule. That process sends electrons to an electrode and the current
is interpreted as the glucose level. However, other substances in the
blood can also raise the electrical current level and provide
inaccurate readings. Now, the enzyme selectively oxidizes glucose and
offers a much more accurate reading.
The research was conducted by Profs. Lital Alfonta and Raz Zarivach
along with Alfonta’s students Itai Algov and Jennifer Grushka from the
Department of Life Sciences at BGU.
The study was funded by an Israel Science Foundation Grant and is
related to consulting work done for SmartZyme Innovations LTD.
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/government-israel/good-news-for-diabetics-israeli-scientists-engineer-super-enzyme-to-detect-glucose-levels/2017/09/27/
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