Say No 🙅 to Glow 💡
Turning red 🍅 after consuming alcohol 🍷🍺 may seem like a mere social inconvenience 🤷. Yet, this flushing response 😡 is caused by an accumulation of acetaldehyde, a carcinogenic 💀 intermediate of alcohol 🥂🥃 metabolism. Acetaldehyde is broken down 📉 into harmless acetate by aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2). ALDH2 deficiency, the result of a point 👉 mutation in the ALDH2 gene, produces a much less efficient 🐢 ALDH2 enzyme, leading to an accumulation of acetaldehyde and the subsequent flushing response 😡. While about 8% of the global 🌍 population is ALDH2 deficient, in our home 🏡, Taiwan, approximately 47% of the population carries this genetic mutation--the highest percentage in the world 🤦‍! Studies show that ALDH2 deficiency greatly increases 📈 the risk of developing esophageal and head and neck cancer 🚑. Thus, our project 👨‍🔬👩‍🔬 aims to produce recombinant ALDH2 to decrease 📉 levels of acetaldehyde in the upper digestive tract region. We envision 👀 delivery 🍬🍦 of ALDH2 as a purified protein or in consumer-friendly probiotics.