In many ways, this photo I took in a pharmacy at Dubai Airport summarizes the goal of my Churchill Fellowship. The photo shows one of the many glucose meter that are now available. These devices have revolutionized the lives of diabetics allowing them to keep track of their own blood glucose levels.
My goal is to produce a similar simple, portable device that can be used by asthmatics every day in their homes to monitor the state of their lungs. This knowledge will hopefully allow them to determine when they will be more susceptible to an asthma attack and take the appropriate action.
What you probably don't realize is that these blood glucose meters use a protein called glucose oxidase. This protein converts glucose in the blood sample to gluconic acid allowing the meter to determine the glucose levels.
I have developed an artificial protein which can be used to detect nitric oxide in gaseous samples. Through this fellowship, I will move one step close to my goal by improving the nitric oxide binding element. It is my dream that one day, my engineered protein will be on the shelves of pharmacies just as these glucose meters.
No comments:
Post a Comment