How pollen can be used to deliver medicine
How pollen can be used to deliver medicine
A method developed for cleaning out the insides of pollen grains so that the nonallergenic shells can be used to carry medicines or vaccines into the human body.
© American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Transcript
SPEAKER 1: For many people, pollen is an unwelcome sign of summer. The powdery substance which is released by plants for reproduction has ruined many a picnic and walk in the park. But believe it or not, pollen could actually serve a purpose beyond making new plants and triggering sneezes.
In ACS Biomaterial Science and Engineering, researchers report a new method for cleaning out the insides of pollen grains so that the non-allergic shells can be used to carry medicines or vaccines into the human body. Pollen grains have a tough outer shell that protects the male genetic material and proteins, indicated by the arrow, from environmental stress.
Previously, scientists have explored the sturdy yet biodegradable material for various applications, ranging from drug and vaccine delivery to masking the taste of fish oil. But it's been difficult to obtain a grain that's free of allergens and other material. Researchers have developed a method for cleaning out a particular type of pollen spore, like a podium, to remove allergens and provide a hollow space that can be filled with the desired material.
But the procedure doesn't work for other pollen species, so Harvinder Singh Gill and colleagues at Texas Tech University wanted to develop a simple cleaning method that would work for many types of pollen. The team tried the previously developed method, treating pollen with a base, then an acid, on ragweed pollen. But they ended up with a clumped together mess of pollen grains and proteins.
However, when they switched the order of the two steps so that they treated the pollen with an acid before the base, the resulting pollen shells were hollowed out and unclumpt. The new method worked for all types of pollen tested, including ragweed, sunflower, black elder and lambsquarters.
The researchers think they know what the procedure works so well. Pollen grains have tiny holes or apertures on their surface that are normally closed. However, upon acid treatment, the apertures burst open, releasing the biological material out of the shell. In the next step of the procedure, treatment with a base removes any remaining protein, producing clean, allergy-free pollen shells.
In ACS Biomaterial Science and Engineering, researchers report a new method for cleaning out the insides of pollen grains so that the non-allergic shells can be used to carry medicines or vaccines into the human body. Pollen grains have a tough outer shell that protects the male genetic material and proteins, indicated by the arrow, from environmental stress.
Previously, scientists have explored the sturdy yet biodegradable material for various applications, ranging from drug and vaccine delivery to masking the taste of fish oil. But it's been difficult to obtain a grain that's free of allergens and other material. Researchers have developed a method for cleaning out a particular type of pollen spore, like a podium, to remove allergens and provide a hollow space that can be filled with the desired material.
But the procedure doesn't work for other pollen species, so Harvinder Singh Gill and colleagues at Texas Tech University wanted to develop a simple cleaning method that would work for many types of pollen. The team tried the previously developed method, treating pollen with a base, then an acid, on ragweed pollen. But they ended up with a clumped together mess of pollen grains and proteins.
However, when they switched the order of the two steps so that they treated the pollen with an acid before the base, the resulting pollen shells were hollowed out and unclumpt. The new method worked for all types of pollen tested, including ragweed, sunflower, black elder and lambsquarters.
The researchers think they know what the procedure works so well. Pollen grains have tiny holes or apertures on their surface that are normally closed. However, upon acid treatment, the apertures burst open, releasing the biological material out of the shell. In the next step of the procedure, treatment with a base removes any remaining protein, producing clean, allergy-free pollen shells.