News From The American Chemical Society, 27-Oct-2008

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Also Included In: Medical Devices / Diagnostics;  Nutrition / Diet;  Tropical Diseases
Article Date: 28 Oct 2008 - 9:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Soybeans no longer a musical fruit?

Soybeans may drop off the list of musical fruit. Scientists in Singapore are reporting victory over some consumers' No. 1 complaint about soy products - the "flatulence factor" caused by indigestible sugars found in soy. In a study scheduled for the November 12 issue of ACS' bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, they describe a method for significantly reducing the amount of flatulence-causing carbohydrates in soy yogurt while raising the levels of healthy antioxidants known as isoflavones.

In the study, Dejian Huang and colleagues note that soy yogurt has a global market share of only 1.9 percent, even though it has a number of health advantages over dairy-based yogurt. That's partly because of the flatulence-causing compounds in soy. "It would be desirable to remove the flatulence-causing raffinose and stachyose from the soy yogurt to improve consumers' preferences. The objective of this study was to develop a new soy yogurt enriched with isoflavones with reduced levels of flatulence-causing oligosaccharides," the scientists said.

The researchers grew soybeans in the presence of a fungus that produced enzymes capable of degrading the undesired sugars. "We have demonstrated for the first time that germinated black soybeans under fungal stress can be fermented into a soy yogurt which features a low amount of flatulence-causing oligosaccharides but with a significant level of isoflavones," says Huang. - AD

"Novel Process of Fermenting Black Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] Yogurt with Dramatically Reduced Flatulence-Causing Oligosaccharides but Enriched Soy Phytoalexins"

CONTACT:
Dejian Huang, Ph.D.
National University of Singapore
Singapore, Republic of Singapore

Toward non-invasive disease diagnosis with "wellness cards"

Scientists are reporting development of a device that could serve as the electronic "reader" for a coming generation of "wellness cards," specimen holders used to diagnose disease from a drop of a patient's saliva or blood. The research, done by scientists in Utah, Iowa, Arizona, and Minnesota, is presented in two papers scheduled for the November 1 issue of ACS' Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal.

In those studies, Marc Porter and colleagues describe using the same technology at the heart of miniaturized hard disk drives to create the new rapid-screening sensor. Using a phenomenon known as giant magnetoresistance (GMR), the device can detect samples on much smaller areas compared to older technologies, the papers note.

As a test, Porter demonstrated the GMR sensor could detect as few as 800 magnetic beads with microscopic dimensions. "Several laboratories have begun to transition GMRs from the data storage domain to that of the bioanalytical sciences," the paper states. "We believe that, by leveraging advances made in the magnetic recording industry (for example portable digital music players), a robust, field-deployable, assay device capable of sensing single-binding events is just over the horizon." - JS

"Giant Magnetoresistance Sensors. 1. Internally Calibrated Readout of Scanned Magnetic Arrays"

"Giant Magnetoresistive Sensors. 2. Detection of Biorecognition Events at Self-Referencing and Magnetically Tagged Arrays"

CONTACT:
Marc D. Porter, Ph.D.
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT

Revealing secrets of "African sleeping sickness"

Scientists in the United Kingdom and Russia are reporting identification of a long-sought chink in the armor of the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness, a parasitic disease that kills at least 50,000 people each year. Their study appears in the current edition of ACS Chemical Biology, a monthly journal.

In the study, Michael Ferguson and colleagues cite an "urgent" need for new treatments for the disease, which is spread by the tsetse fly and also affects cattle - a precious possession that represents a bank account on four feet to impoverished people in sub-Sahara Africa. Current treatments for African sleeping sickness, Ferguson says, are not only difficult to administer, but also expensive and toxic.

Their research identified the first compound to impede a key step in an essential biochemical pathway in the sleeping sickness parasite. Blocking this pathway disrupts the production of a key glycolipid that anchors protective proteins to the surface of the parasite. The analysis also revealed notable differences between pathways of parasitic and human cells, which could reveal insight into possible therapeutic targets. - JS

"Probing Enzymes Late in the Trypanosomal Glycosylphosphatidylinositol Biosynthetic Pathway with Synthetic Glycosylphosphatidylinositol Analogues"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/cb800143w

Contact:
Mike Ferguson, Ph.D.
University of Dundee
Dundee DD1 5EH Scotland U.K.

World's smallest hand-held instrument for detecting health and safety threats

Researchers in Indiana are describing development of the world's smallest complete mass spectrometer (MS), a miniature version of a standard lab device - some of which would dominate a living room - to identify tiny amounts of chemicals in the environment. The hand-held MS, about the size of a shoebox, could speed the detection of bioterrorism agents, hidden explosives, and other threats, the researchers say. Their study is scheduled for the current issue of ACS' Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal.

R. Graham Cooks, Zheng Ouyang, and colleagues note that scientists have developed several different versions of portable mass spectrometers over the past few decades. However, the instruments' large size, weight, and inability to analyze a wide variety of different target molecules have limited their practical use.

The scientists responded to the need for a small but sensitive MS by developing the Mini 11. About the size of a small shoebox, it weighs only 9 pounds (half the weight of other portable MSs), and can be operated by remote control. Laboratory tests showed that the Mini 11 could accurately identify the chemical composition of three commonly used commercial drugs within just one minute using tandem mass spectrometry. Unlike previous portable mass specs, this new instrument is capable of analyzing a wider variety of molecules, including large proteins, the scientists say. - MTS

http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ac801275x

CONTACT:
R. Graham Cooks, Ph.D.
Center For Analytical Instrumentation Development
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907

Newly approved pesticide stirs controversy over health effects

Even though the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given final approval for use of a new pesticide, regulators in California and other states are taking a closer look at the substance's potential adverse health effects before allowing the chemical to be used, according to an article scheduled for the Oct. 27 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS' weekly newsmagazine.

In the article, C&EN Associate Editor Britt E. Erickson notes that EPA first considered approving the pesticide, methyl iodide, in 2006 as a replacement for methyl bromide - which is now being phased out because of environmental concerns that it may damage the ozone layer. Although methyl iodide appears unlikely to have that effect, it is toxic to nerve cells and may carry a risk of thyroid damage, cancer, and other adverse health effects.

At least one environmental group and some scientists opposed EPA's approval of the pesticide, alleging that EPA had been secretive during the review process, failing to fully consider the chemical's health effects, and they pointed to an apparent conflict of interest involving the pesticide's manufacturer. States like California and Florida had their own concerns about the pesticide's safety and decided to do their own risk assessments before allowing use of methyl iodide. Florida finished its assessment and approved the use of methyl iodide last July, but not before requiring additional safety measures beyond those required by EPA. California's assessment is still ongoing, the article notes.

"Methyl iodide saga continues"

----------------------------
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
----------------------------

The American Chemical Society - the world's largest scientific society - is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

Source: Michael Woods
American Chemical Society