Researchers also add an antimicrobial peptide called protegrin, which can kill harmful bacteria.\n<\/p>\n
The final product is designed to kill or neutralize different kinds of viruses including HPV and types of bacteria like Porphyromonas gingivalis<\/a> and Fusobacterium nucleatum<\/a> \u2e3b all of which are linked to multiple kinds of cancer.\n <\/p>\n To do that, the bioengineered gum acts like a \u201cfly trap,\u201d Daniell explained.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe virus [particles], when they are separate, they enter the cells and infect the human cells, but if they are aggregated, they cannot,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, this FRIL gum, it aggregates them. When they are a lump, it sticks to the chewing gum.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Researchers have tested the effectiveness of this method against HPV in saliva samples taken from people who\u2019ve tested positive for the virus.\n<\/p>\n Early data shows that the gum reduced the viral load of HPV by 93%. When combined with an antimicrobial peptide, a single piece of gum killed nearly all levels of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum bacteria.\n<\/p>\n The team at Penn will continue to study the effectiveness of the gum in an HPV clinical trial this year based at Penn Medicine.\n<\/p>\n Co-investigator and dentist Dr. Marc Henschel said the outcome of the clinical trial could strengthen evidence, and show how the gum could potentially help protect a spouse or intimate partner of someone who has already been diagnosed with an HPV-related cancer.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea with the antiviral HPV chewing gum is to try to mitigate and minimize that viral load intra-orally, which will have a better outcome for future patients if they should have cancerous lesions,\u201d Henschel said. \u201cIf there\u2019s a way to minimize a viral load from significant other to significant other, that\u2019s a no-brainer right then and there.\u201d From Philly to London to outer space?<\/p>\n Daniell\u2019s vision is for this chewing gum to one day be available as a prophylactic tool \u2e3a something people could buy off the shelf at a reasonable cost to use before a possible exposure to a cancer-causing virus or bacteria.\n<\/p>\n But the possibilities go beyond that, he said. The chewing gum is also being tested and studied in separate clinical trials for its effectiveness against infectious diseases like COVID-19 and influenza, which can spread from person to person through respiratory droplets that they breathe in or ingest.\n<\/p>\n A larger influenza clinical trial in patients is planned to take place in London this summer, Daniell said.\n<\/p>\n A chewing gum that could reduce viral load for diseases like this could have broader public health benefits, especially if it can help limit transmission, he said.\n<\/p>\n \u201cIn our class in dental school, I have hundreds of students packed inside there. So, if they are in a public place, they will be better protected by chewing [the gum] before going to the class, right?\u201d Daniell posed. \u201cPublic transportation and things like that.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Even teams at NASA have expressed interest in the chewing gum and how it could help astronauts stay healthy. Meaning that their little piece of bioengineered chewing gum may even one day end up in space, he said.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From hyacinth beans to chewing gum Two assistants dressed in long white coats, gloves, masks and face shields…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9328,49295,67207,89948,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-204014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-cancer","tag-cancer-research","tag-dental-care","tag-perelman-school-of-medicine-at-penn-med","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bio-gum-n-leonard-2026-05-26-4-1024x769.jpg\")
Researcher Dr. Henry Daniell and researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine are investigating the effectiveness of a bioengineered chewing gum that they hope can prevent oral, head and neck cancers by killing the viruses and bacteria that are linked to disease, May 5, 2026. (Nicole Leonard\/WHYY)\n<\/p>\n