14 DAY TRIAL // For the first time ever, researchers have developed an entirely artificial, man-made enzyme, that is capable of decomposing the common toxin called glycoside esculin.
The recently-created chemical is part of the Chemzymes class, which is basically a collection of mane made molecules that simulate the effects of natural enzymes, but without the negative side-effects.
Generally, the toxin targeted by this artificial enzyme is found naturally in fruits and vegetables, researchers say. They now demonstrated that producing synthetic chemicals holds great promise for the future.
The investigation was conducted at the University of Copenhagen, and was led by chemist Dr. Jeannette Bjerre. PhD.
“Showing that these molecules are capable of decomposing toxins required vast amounts of work and time. But it's been worth every minute because it proves the general point that it's possible to design artificial enzymes for this class of task,” she says.
The expert adds that the main role enzymes fulfill in the human body is breaking down nutriments, as well as most other things we ingest or drink. Without them, absorbing nutrients would be impossible.
Another major function is toxin decomposition, so that the body can endure to live another day. As such, it is very important that our bodies contain as many types of enzymes possible.
This is crucial if we want to be capable of breaking down as many types of toxins as possible.
By artificially engineering an enzyme, researchers have basically removed the high complexity from the structure, reducing its to its basic, functional components.
In constructing such a chemical from scratch, scientists had to play close attention to how they arranged the components inside the molecules. Any wrong move and the function of the resulting enzyme would be different than what they were looking for.
At this point, chemzymes are still a lot slower than their natural counterparts in performing their duties. But they are however more resilient in the face of heat and solvent.
An added advantage of the new chemical is that it can be produced cheaply and at a large scale, which means that the pharmaceutical industry is bound to embrace it soon.