We also adjusted the enzyme to remove its oxygen activity. That enzyme isn’t very stable, so we introduced a di-sulfide bond to make it more stable and reliable for powering a biosensor. Our current project works with wild type lactate oxidase, which creates that burning sensation from lactic acid buildup in your muscles when you exercise. A typical enzyme in your body, called a wild type enzyme, has a limited lifespan and only works for certain types of reactions, but you can engineer it to make it more useful. That’s why we are focused on building the sensor first, before we make any device that releases drugs.īatchu: Enzyme engineering is just modifying the enzyme’s physical and chemical properties into the ideal properties for a particular application – in our case, for sensors. In order to administer something like a drug or administer some molecule, you need to know how much of it is already in the body. An artificial organ has a sensing component and a drug administration component. Le: Basically, this project is focused on building a device that can be implanted into or attached to the body and powered by an enzyme that is engineered.īatchu: The real end goal of what we’re trying to accomplish is to create sensors for artificial organs. Q: What is the purpose of your current project? He told me that the research within the lab involved a lot of biochemistry, such as enzyme engineering, so I reached out to Dr. Le: I heard about this lab from Kartheek when I was looking for biochemistry research opportunities the summer after sophomore year.
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We met to discuss our interests, and I started working on enzyme engineering, which eventually led to device engineering. Koji Sode was doing a lot of interesting things that weren’t being done by other labs, specifically with self-powered devices. I looked at a lot of BME faculty and saw that Dr. Q: How did you first find this research project and begin working together?īatchu: I joined the Sode lab in my sophomore year. Thy Le (UNC ’21, CSS 5), a biochemistry major, and Kartheek Batchu (UNC ’21, CSS 5) a biomedical engineering major, share how their joint research project – developing a self-powered biosensor employing engineered lactate oxidase – is enhanced by their different knowledge sets and their teamwork. Scientific research is driven by interdisciplinary collaboration: teams of scientists with varied academic backgrounds tackling problems together.