LOS ANGELES (KNX) — A COVID-19-killing chewing gum is currently in development, and researchers think it could help prevent the spread of the virus around the world with the addition of the ACE2 protein to the gum itself.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine are using saliva samples from COVID-19 patients to determine how the gum can neutralize the virus.
Henry Daniell, the vice chair and professor of the Department of Translational Sciences at the University’s School of Dental Medicine spoke with KNX In Depth to share details.
“It sounds unusual, but this gum is like any other cinnamon-flavored gum except it has one additional protein — a viral trap protein,” Daniell said. “This protein is present in our saliva naturally, but it’s not enough.
What does a naturally occurring protein have to do with reducing the spread of COVID-19? A lot, actually.
“The [coronavirus] binds to this protein and dominates this protein and by blocking this protein it has free entry into human cells,” Daniell said. But with the added proteins in the gum, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has less of a chance to do that dirty work and infect your body.
“By binding, it traps SARS-CoV-2 in the gum and the ones that escape the gum - go and block the gate of entry because the virus and enzyme use the same gate to enter human cells,” he said.
With that effort going on, the gum can both prevent the transmission of coronavirus and the severity of an infection in someone who is already sick.
“The virus replicates in the salivary glands, that’s it’s primary site of multiplication - so you control the virus at the source,” Daniell said, explaining that the gum could also reduce the viral load of people who are already infected — in order to help them recover.
“At the same time, people who are asymptomatic who don’t know they’re infected…when they speak they spread the virus within the family when they don't’ wear a mask,” Daniell added. “So by dramatically reducing the viral load, it reduces transmission.”
While vaccinations for COVID-19 have helped change the course of the pandemic, they have not stamped out transmission, the University said in a statement.
Daniell's team shared images showing before and after photos of a person's virus samples to indicate how treatment with the gum reduced the amount of virus present.
To learn more about Daniell's work, click here.
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