Bioengineered chewing gum may offer a way to fight HPV and other microbes | Hacker News Reader

Bioengineered chewing gum may offer a way to fight HPV and other microbes

sciencedaily.com

217 pointsAudiophilip63 comments

Tangentially related, apparently xylitol gum can reduce cavity risk by killing off bacteria (which cannot digest but cannot differentiate xylitol from regular sugar) in the mouth.

Xylitol is really cool that way. The bacteria waste energy trying to convert it to a form they can use, but they just end up with at a dead end with xylitol-5-phosphate. Once they realize that they need to get rid of it, they convert it back to xylitol (so it can cross the membrane easier and probably to keep the phosphate). Of course, that means the xylitol is back to fool some other nearby bacteria into wasting its energy.

They end up wasting their energy on work that won't help them reproduce and needing to waste more energy getting rid of it.

I swish xylitol crystal after each meal for five minutes and then spit out. I no longer have plague on my lower bottom teeth, a problem area for most people. I like the fresh minty feel afterward as well. Wish I had learn about this earlier.

Sounds interesting, indeed. Just dug up this review [1] that claims there were no adverse effects from any of the interventions, and that after 2.5 to 3 years of use, a fluoride toothpaste containing 10% xylitol may reduce caries by 13% when compared to a fluoride-only toothpaste.

I wonder how well bacteria will adapt long term in your mouth to Xylitol exposure through bubble gum based adminstration.

[1] Xylitol-containing products for preventing dental caries in children and adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2015, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD010743. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD010743.pub2.

Couldnt find any (relatively recent) studies that looked at bacteria over multiple years, but some earlier ones (1&2), or shorter period ones(3), that touch on it (aswell as caries, as that is the prevalent subject)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2758793/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1810656/

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3...

Wouldn’t this also be a problem for gut flora?

Not just gut flora. High levels of circulating xylitol (and erythritol for that matter) have been shown in both mouse models and humans to be associated with increased platelet reactivity and elevated 3-year risk of major cardiovascular events.

But we're talking significant levels of xylitol/erythritol, such as from keto-friendly ice cream and drinks, not the modest levels from chewing gum, and the dental benefits are well established.

It certainly is a problem for the guts of some people.

There is a hilarious Amazon review describing the effects of sugar-free gummy bears in rather graphic details.

https://old.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/1ktb95/most_helpful_...

I don't know if it is xylitol, but if not, it is another sugar alcohol, like sorbitol, maltitol, erythritol,... that have similar properties

Excessive xylitol consumption causes digestive problems, yes.

In that way I'm like a bacteria. "Ah beans, gotta undo all this work"

It does? I wonder, what it does to the gut biome then

It's already bad for your cardiovascular system. It's food as a mouth wash but don't swallow it, especially at the recommended doses of 3+ mouthwash per day with 3-5g each time

The recent study on it gave the subjects a 300mL "standardized, artificially sweetened beverage containing 30g of xylitol diluted in water."

Recommended amount is 5–10g per day (5 pieces of 100% xylitol gum, 36% is already effective), taken after meals.

Just be careful around dogs and presumably other pets as it's toxic for them.

By the way, you should know some people have trouble with the *-itols, causing a range of uncomfortable gut problems.

not only xylitol, but sorbitol, mannitol and maltitol. Also related are lactose, fructose, and *saccharides.

the keyword is FODMAP, look up low-FODMAP diet.

maybe: https://www.med.unc.edu/medicine/gi/faculty-staff-website/wp...

In case this is useful for anyone, this study on high-risk HPV and medicinal mushrooms blew my mind:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25271984/

In 88% (36 out of 41) of patients with high-risk HPV, taking reishi + turkey tail mushrooms daily for 2 months cleared the virus, versus 5% clearance (1 out of 20) in the control group. I suspect that 88% clearance rate would be higher if they continued for longer than 2 months.

Sorry, but no. This does not pass the smell test in the slightest.

This is:

- A single author paper with no academic affiliations.

- A search on the internet for this author finds them also pitching essential oils and a wide variety of other "alternative medicine" on the Youtube/Podcast grifter circuit and not the sorts of alternative medicine anyone seriously thinks might have some merit.

- The address listed for his supposed place of practice appears to be a roadside "clini-spa" advertising beauty treatments.

- This could only get published in some low-impact journal that's solely about the purported benefits of mushrooms, even though if true this would be a pretty revolutionary finding that would be of interest to far bigger journals.

Can I prove it's fraud? No, especially since I'm not paying $25 to look at the paper details.

But unless this finding replicates from someone with credibility, I don't think this means much of anything and I certainly don't think you should be taking anything in this paper as a fact.

Alternative form of delivery required for Singapore.

Chewing gum in Singapore is a bit like medical marijuana was in California.

Possession and use of chewing gum is legal. Importation for personal consumption is also legal. Selling and importing in commercial quantities are banned.

Ah, a real delicacy then

I'm just over here wondering how/where/when I can buy this

apparently it helps reduce risk of mouth cancer..... what im hearing is rotate this and zyns in my mouth, see what happens.

I wonder if chewing mastic would be as effective?

I started chewing mastic gum a few years ago as a jaw-shape maintenance measure. An encouragement for anyone who's curious about it: I like the taste and stiff texture of mastic more than normal gum these days.

Can you explain what you mean by a maintenance measure for your jaw shape? Is the idea.. a jaw workout?

The looksmaxxing thing is a real reason mastic gum as a jaw workout is promoted. Won't deny that.

My use of it comes from early 2010s era paleo-food community observations about hunter gatherers having less crowded jaws than agriculturalist and modern peoples, hypothesized to be due to both micronutrient intake and also eating tougher foods. Cramped jaws and facial structures lead to both malocclusion and also nasal breathing issues, and mouth breathing also reinforces those pathological facial changes. Granted, this stuff is from sources that I've heard wildly varying opinions on (Weston A Price; Mike Mew). Jaw and facial structure continues to change into adulthood. I needed extensive orthodontics in my youth and have struggled with sleep apnea in adulthood. This broad set of hypotheses made sense to me, and chewing mastic gum was the easiest way to get a full dose of "chew tougher food" in my life. I try to snack on raw carrots too.

Speaking to attractiveness, there's an uncomfortable photo of identical twins in one of the Weston Price books, one given orthodontic treatment that widened their facial structure and one was not. The one with the widened facial structure was more attractive. The difference wasn't gigantic, but it wasn't small either.

I'm just hear to commiserate with the only person I've come across online in decades mentioning Weston A Price and his book of dental studies, which no doubt dates us. (The side-by-side jaw images left an impression on me as well). I'm guessing you were also part of the Price to Nourishing Traditions cookbook pipeline? Everyone I knew had at least the cookbooks back in the day.

The book mentioned is 'Nutrition and Physical Degeneration', online version: https://www.journeytoforever.org/farm_library/price/pricetoc...

Highly recommended, at minimum for interesting historical look at various cultures with a pre-modern processed food diet. AFAIK the basic hypothesis about diet affecting face morphology holds up.

It's the new gen Z and younger thing, micro-optimise your appearance.

Outcome of chronic social media exposure.

it originated way earlier as a way to help people who have naturally small nasal passages. i guess both mewing and chewing help widen passages. The book breath goes into details but from the perspective of health and not looks. This has been known for like 100 years but mostly dentists payed attention to it.

The fact is mewing and chewing do make a measurable difference…over time. Tiktok promotes extremes as they get more views and the more extreme the more views in a cycle of escalation. This gave birth to sad boys who see the Toyota chivalre’s and think they need the same jawline. Similar sad nonsense has been going on for women too but that has unfortunately become all but normalized.

> Similar sad nonsense

It's amazing how they normalized fillers to the point of being hideous and convinced themselves that that's a beautiful aesthetic. The consensus seeking hive mind at work.

Thats also partially because they were told fillers dissolve and to keep getting them, when actually fillers migrate and continue to absorb water and grow, leading to puffy "pillow face".

I tried it, but it goes through some weird changes while you chew it.

I'm curious. HIV has been largely conquered, so why hasn't HPV been conquered yet? Same goes for shingles.

Chicken pox is conquered. We went from 95% to <1%. Shingles will see a similar plunge.

Adding to my sibling comments: It also has been conquered in some sense of the word. There are effective vaccines for the 9 most problematic HPV types: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HPV_vaccine . It is worth getting, regardless of your gender.

Gardasil 9 seems to be the best available HPV vaccine. I guess the chewing gum is mainly intended for people who were already infected with some HPV strain before they got the vaccine, or where the vaccine didn't work (because it doesn't offer complete protection).

>Gardasil 9 seems to be the best available HPV vaccine.

Only in high income countries. The 4-valent version is still the dominant version available worldwide.

For Gardasil 9, some lower income countries also use just a single dose rather than two, due to cost.

You need to use antiretrovirals constantly to control the HIV. It's not worth it for the HPV that is mostly benign (and only rarely causes cancer).

thanks!

Less resources devoted to curing because of lower lethality

There's been a lot of failed attempts at therapeutic vaccines and the like, but nothing has proven effective. It seems that the virus is quite hard to detect and target in the skin.

That, plus a lack of urgency due to the effectiveness of preventative vaccines, leads to a lack of urgency on the issue.

This is the future I wanted.

Sounds like an ad. "Eat this gum, it is so healthy."

Gum is often made of plastics so won’t be surprised if cancerous themselves

It says, "involving chewing gum made from lablab beans (bean gum)".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lablab --

Taiwanese researchers found that a carbohydrate-binding protein (i.e. a legume lectin) from lablab beans effectively blocks the infections of influenza viruses and SARS-CoV-2.[60] Researchers from Finland and USA found that extracts from chewing gum manufactured from lablab bean seeds had broad-spectrum anti-viral properties, likely due to the binding action of Flt3 Receptor Interacting Lectin (FRIL) on viruses; the anti-viral effect was similar to that of purified FRIL

Lol they didn't read the article.

Hunh I always assumed it was just some kind of modified natural rubber but it’s literally plastic (PVAc, PIB) that release microplastics into the saliva.

Not all is, including the one mentioned in the article. There are many "natural" chewing gum brands, that use plant based gum. You can buy boxes Amazon, or usually find them in the candy aisle of higher end grocery stores. You're probably not going to find it in a gas station/convenient store.

Not worth the time of day until it can be demonstrated that there is a net health benefit. Precautionary Principle FTW.

humans evolved to have risk seekers and risk avoiders. some people try it, the other people watch.

this issue today is that governments can coerce people into taking those risks, regardless of risk appetite, or they can hide the actual risk. We saw this in real time over the past 6 years. That's why the precautionary principle is so important, also the Nuremberg code.

we owe the dairy industry to this phenomena, and also a lot of fetishes

I mean some fetishes have science behind why they exist. For example, the part of the brain that process feet is located next to the area that processes genitals. At least, some are explainable. Some are not.

Well, if natural selection had a say, the only fetish anyone would have would be an impregnation fetish. (Only half joking.)

Natural selection had a say in female mammals leaking blood trails every month, which is, mildly said, fcking stupid. Natural selection does not create optimal beings, it creates stuff that, somehow, kinda, works. If you have the time for it, I highly recommend the lecture series on behavioral evolution by Robert Sapolsky, it's on the Stanford YouTube channel.

It's stupid from a practical perspective but the energy required to build up the uterine lining and tear it down on a (basically-)monthly basis is much lower than its upkeep

Aren't all gum based basically plastic? Including natural ones? So chewing any gum is just going to fill your body with microplastics right? I wonder if the risk offset is worth it.

The original chewing gum was a latex called chicle from tropical trees. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicle?wprov=sfla1

Those are some great leaps of logic.

This is a content-free comment. First, it's a statement of fact, not a logical deduction. Please explain where I'm wrong and educate all of us.

HN is pretty good normally, but it has its share of idiots too.

https://samueli.ucla.edu/bursting-your-bubble-chewing-gum-re...

For those downvoting me:

https://samueli.ucla.edu/bursting-your-bubble-chewing-gum-re...

This includes natural gum bases.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com