backtop

Science Enzymes: Not Just For Ethanol
Levi Beckerson (Blog) - August 27, 2009 9:00 AM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 26 comment(s) - last by ntropi.. on Aug 28 at 9:39 AM

Professor Amihay Freeman's Dermastream device provides a less invasive and appreciably faster method for healing chronic sores and wounds.  (Source: American Friends of Tel Aviv University)
Israeli medical device shows that enzymes are still pretty powerful in medicinal use.

While enzymes are being billed as the “Next Big Thing in Ethanol Production”, with research showing great promise from various institutes like Michigan State University and NASA, we should not forget that they have many many other biological applications. A new device from Tel Aviv University demonstrates the power of enzymes in battling chronic persistent sores, bed sores and other open wounds that require constant medical treatment.

The Dermastream, brainchild of Amihay Freeman, professor at TAU's Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, may help improve the lives of millions of people suffering from these kinds of ailments and save millions of dollars in time-consuming medical care involved in fighting such wounds in hospitals. While persistent wound care of this nature is often invasive and painful for the recipient, involving physically scraping necrotic tissue away from the wound, the Dermastream harnesses the power of enzymes to wash away the dead tissue as well as keep the area clean and sanitary.

The Dermastream attaches to an area of skin by suction and continuously passes a special solution containing the active enzymes over the sore or wound. The negative pressure from the suction also helps to accelerate the healing process.

TAU claims the device helps heal chronic sores in weeks as opposed to traditional ointment and bandage methods which can take several months.

The device has already passed clinical trials in Israel and Freeman is currently working with a Tucson, AZ Veteran's Association hospital via his start-up company to bring the product to the United States. Considering the difference in comfort and rate of healing shown by the Dermastream versus the regular treatment methods, it would be hard to argue that it wouldn't benefit many sufferers of chronic sores, elderly and infirm who suffer from bed or diabetic sores, and possibly anyone with an open wound in need of treatment.

It is certainly a reminder that though medical technology has advanced incredibly in the past ten years, it can still be beaten by simple biological processes when applied in intelligent ways.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
enzyme IS still very widely used
By dome1234 on 8/27/2009 9:55:35 AM , Rating: 4
Not just for ethanol?

Enzymes are very widely used in many industries especially in food processing. Is enzyme use in medicine dwindling? yes if you consider things like genetic engineering and drug manufacturing total different fields. The reason we are alive and have the free time to post in dt is because the enzyme in our bodies.

you need a better title, mate.




RE: enzyme IS still very widely used
By LeviBeckerson (blog) on 8/27/2009 10:44:53 AM , Rating: 1
The title was mostly a dig at how everything imaginable is being linked to ethanol use or production lately as shown in the two recent articles which were linked to.

Fear not good people, though not quite as populous as bacteria I imagine, enzymes are everywhere. I'm merely fascinated with how such simple things, such as this method of treatment, can be overlooked for so long knowing what we know about how enzymes work and all the technology we've come up with to facilitate their creation, testing and widespread usage.


RE: enzyme IS still very widely used
By PigLickJF on 8/27/2009 11:56:07 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Fear not good people, though not quite as populous as bacteria I imagine, enzymes are everywhere.


Uh, enzymes are definitely more "populous" than bacteria considering that bacteria, along with every other organism, rely on enzymes to stay alive.


RE: enzyme IS still very widely used
By LeviBeckerson (blog) on 8/27/2009 12:24:18 PM , Rating: 1
You have me there.

How many different enzymes (even including synthetics) are there compared to the number of different bacterias?


RE: enzyme IS still very widely used
By geddarkstorm on 8/27/2009 1:07:15 PM , Rating: 2
Enzymes are just proteins that do some catalytic function to speed up chemical reactions. For instance, all living organism without exception have several hundred metabolic enzymes; let alone enzymes for the synthesis of non fuel materials like signaling molecules, toxins, capsules, and so forth -- which are heavily species specific. So, take the number of bacteria species in the world, and multiply it by around 100 for a very rough estimate of the number of different enzymes verses different bacteria out there. The multiplication factor will increase or decrease depending on how many changes must be in between the enzyme of two different species of bacteria to be considered different enzymes; but remember, to be a separate species means there has to be significant differences in many enzymatic pathways to totally change the organism.

And that isn't counting eukaryotes like us or synthetics.


RE: enzyme IS still very widely used
By PigLickJF on 8/27/2009 1:46:02 PM , Rating: 2
Hm, I don't know.

For there to be more enzymes than species, every species would have to have, on average, more than one unique enzyme, and I'm not sure that's the case. Many enzymes are highly conserved and therefore shared by many different species.

I'm also talking about enzymes in terms of function, so different isozymes I'd place under one "species" of enzyme. If each distinct peptide sequence is counted as a distinct enzyme, then it's much more likely that the number of different enzymes is greater than the number of different organismal (and bacterial specifically) species.


By geddarkstorm on 8/27/2009 2:02:59 PM , Rating: 2
As I said, it depends on how many differences between enzymes there must be for them to be classified as different; a very subjective parameter. Must they be 50% identical, 20%, 5%? None the less, there are more than several enzymes arguably unique to each species of bacteria. They give those species specific types of protein/proteogycan coats on their membranes, capsules, make different signaling molecules for quorum sensing which is species specific, different toxins, etc. No two different species have identical enzymes or they cannot be different species. This is irregardless of if you count isozymes as the same enzyme across species, or not. There will always be more enzyme diversity than species diversity.


By PigLickJF on 8/27/2009 1:19:22 PM , Rating: 2
Well, if you're talking about numbers of different enzymes versus the number of species of bacteria then bacteria certainly have many more.

However, your use of the word populous didn't, to me at least, indicate that was the comparison you were making since populous/population usualy refers to the number of individuals. Sorry for the confusion.


RE: enzyme IS still very widely used
By ntropi on 8/28/2009 9:39:40 AM , Rating: 2
Those who enjoy clean clothes probably utilize enzymes in the process. It is more difficult to find laundry detergents that do not have enzymes than those that do.


So....
By FITCamaro on 8/27/2009 9:23:12 AM , Rating: 2
We've invented a precursor bacta? Sorry. Yes I'm a Star Wars geek.




RE: So....
By FITCamaro on 8/27/2009 9:24:04 AM , Rating: 2
Oh and for the less geeky.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Bacta


RE: So....
By the goat on 8/27/2009 9:45:23 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
We've invented a precursor bacta?


Star Wars took place "a long time ago . . ." So this is just re-discovering a technology that had been forgotten.

I guess we know what is written in the dead sea scrolls now: the history (scripts) of Star Wars episodes 4, 5 & 6).


RE: So....
By JediJeb on 8/27/2009 5:52:48 PM , Rating: 2
You might be suprised that there are names used in Star Wars that are contained in those Dead Sea Scrolls. Endor is one that comes to mind.


I'm almost sure
By mihadeth on 8/27/2009 9:40:21 AM , Rating: 2
That these enzymes are freshly squeezed from organs stolen from Palestinian people!




RE: I'm almost sure
By FITCamaro on 8/27/2009 10:58:51 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah cause this is due to those damn evil Israeli's who like to protect themselves from people who attack them.


RE: I'm almost sure
By ClownPuncher on 8/27/2009 12:38:43 PM , Rating: 2
It goes both ways, very much so.


Enzymes
By Larrymon2000 on 8/27/2009 9:29:39 AM , Rating: 2
I'm pretty sure that life has been using enzymes to heal, to combat foreign substances and to LIVE for billions of years before the idea of applying enzymes to ethanol had even been dreamt up, or before humans had been around, for that matter. Enzymes are special proteins that facilitate reactions, nothing more... Not some magical machine that only researchers in a lab can conjure up.




RE: Enzymes
By nafhan on 8/27/2009 9:42:31 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah. Article was interesting, but the title had me scratching my head as well.


Maggots
By fic2 on 8/27/2009 11:44:10 AM , Rating: 2
I thought hospitals used maggots to eat dead tissue away from wounds.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/10/10...




RE: Maggots
By croc on 8/27/2009 8:22:00 PM , Rating: 2
That's only done in developed countries....


Title
By Army1156 on 8/27/2009 5:15:12 PM , Rating: 2
Another misleading title from Dailytech.

Prime us for another alternative energy flamewar, and it's an article about tissue necrosis.




RE: Title
By drmo on 8/27/2009 5:38:44 PM , Rating: 2
How about using enzymes that produce methane from necrotic tissue and sucking out the methane using a similar system to this one?


"If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion." -- Scientology founder L. Ron. Hubbard

DailyTech Poll
Which web browser do you use on your primary personal machine? 






44 Comments









botimage
Copyright 2009 DailyTech LLC. - RSS Feed | Advertise | About Us | Ethics | FAQ | Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information | Kristopher Kubicki