Overview
Sugars are one of the leading culprits behind significant human diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cancer[1]. Excessive sugar consumption greatly threatens human health and further increases the risk of diseases. Since the World Health Organization called for sugar reduction, sugar substitutes have gradually come into people's view. Sugar substitutes produce a sweet taste by binding to sweet taste receptors in the mouth and triggering nerve impulses. Since they do not produce calories, sugar substitutes have also become a means of disease control.
Thaumatin, as a low-calorie sweetener[2], is highly favored by people, but due to its plant origin, the yield is difficult to meet market demand. Therefore, we created a new Thaumatin production system using tomatoes as a chassis. Based on the design of "Fruit+Biopower", combining the expression system and the production system, we can expand the production of Thaumatin, and to obtain the nutritive sweetener directly from tomato juice without going through the complicated extraction process, creating a colorful world of sweetness.
This page details our project Implementation and future product application and promotion plans.
Product and Application
Sweetein
SWEETEIN is an innovative sugar substitute production system based on the "Fruit+Biopower" design, integrating synthetic and localization-storage systems to achieve large-scale production of the novel sweet protein Thaumatin in tomatoes through transgenic technology. Utilizing synthetic biology techniques, we can effortlessly extract this nutritional sweetener from a common fruit and vegetable— tomatoes, and apply it to beverages, pharmaceuticals and other food products. Sweetein aims to provide a healthier dietary option for the general public, offering a viable alternative for health conditions such as diabetes and obesity, and laying a solid foundation for the development of plant cell factories.
Considering Sweetein as a sugar substitute sweetener derived from tomatoes, our team has specially crafted a Product User Manual for consumers, designed to comprehensively introduce our genetically modified tomato sugar substitute product from the user's perspective. This manual, written in plain language, details the scientific basis of the tomato sugar substitute, its health benefits, and how to incorporate it into daily diet, including a wealth of recipes and consumption suggestions, providing theoretical guidance for consumers' regular use. Furthermore, in this manual, we disclose all product information, ensuring consumers' right to know and giving them peace of mind in their consumption.
Hardware
With the significant enhancement of public health awareness, the public is paying increasing attention to sugar intake. This year, SZU-China, based on the project, designed and constructed an automated detection device for common sugars based on lanthanide metal ester fluorescence[3]. By utilizing the fluorescence changes of lanthanide metal ester fluorescent materials in different liquid environments, combined with Principal Component Analysis (PCA)[4], it can realize the detection of various common sugar contents. With this device, consumers can easily detect the sugar content in food and develop healthy dietary habits. The instrument is easy to operate and can be used in non-experimental environments, making it easy for consumers to get started.
The device consists of the following modules: a triple set of sample bottles containing detection reagents, specially designed to ensure that users can correctly place them in the designated position of the instrument; the optical module is composed of an LED light bead that emits light at a wavelength of 3 nanometers and a filter that ensures the purity of the light wavelength; the light collection module uses a mini optical prism to disperse the excited light through a narrow slit, and a mini camera captures the dispersed spectrum; the central control module is responsible for processing user operations, calculating the optical data captured by the camera, and providing feedback to the user; users can interact with the instrument through a friendly user interface on the display module and obtain clear and detailed results. Compared with traditional sugar detectors, our sensor is more intelligent, convenient, and has higher sensitivity. It is designed to provide consumers with a convenient and fast detection solution. In addition, this instrument uses environmentally friendly materials and will not cause pollution or harm to the human body or the environment.
Furthermore, we have innovatively constructed a lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) test paper for rapid quantitative detection of Thaumatin protein. By using the common HA antibody target engineering plant-expressed protein with an HA tag, we achieve rapid quantitative detection of the content of Somatose in the sample. Compared with traditional detection methods - using protein blot (Western Blot, WB) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, ELISA) for detection, our method undoubtedly reduces costs, lightens the workload, and provides an economical, efficient, user-friendly, and scalable solution, thereby increasing the feasibility and efficiency of screening. In addition, this test paper can also be used for other target protein samples with an HA tag[5], and has good scalability.
In summary, by designing and constructing an automated detection device for common sugars based on lanthanide metal ester fluorescence and a rapid quantitative lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) test paper for Thaumatin protein, we have provided a more convenient and fast alternative for the detection of common sugars and the screening of genetically modified crops.
Learn more in Hardware.
Promotion
Legal Regulation Analysis
Currently, in China, the management of genetically modified organisms (GMO) involves multiple laws and regulations[6], including, but not limited to, the Regulations on the Safety Management of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms and the Measures for the Administration of Labeling of Genetically Modified Organisms. Together, these laws and regulations form the legal framework for the management of GM crops in China. We have extensively reviewed the relevant laws and regulations that our product needs to comply with, especially the safety policies and policy trends of genetic engineering technology. We have summarized and provided feedback on the regulations, and written a brief introduction to the relevant laws, which can be used as a detailed reference as well as relied upon for GM food products.
By analyzing and interpreting the laws and regulations, we have clarified the direction we need to work in. We have continued to visit relevant institutions and talked to experts and enterprises to gain a deeper understanding of the specific laws and regulations. From theory to practice, we have ensured the safety of the project, ensured that the GM tomato can go out from the laboratory to the public smoothly, and laid a solid legal and regulatory foundation for the future development of Sweetein.
Manual Writing
Based on in-depth research and compliance with national laws and regulations on genetically modified (GM) crops, our team has carefully drafted a GM law and regulation, Genetically Modified Crop Assessment and Development Manual, for the GM tomatoes in the project. In this legal document, we provide clear guidelines and instructions for the development of Sweetein, including its research, field trials, and commercial cultivation. We have also established risk management measures for potential subsequent risks associated with Sweetein. Unlike conventional legal documents, we have written this manual specifically for Sweetein to ensure that subsequent activities are carried out within the framework of biosafety and ethical standards and are legally enforceable, thereby safeguarding the environment, public health, and biodiversity.
In addition, through the interpretation of a large number of laws and regulations, we have found that there is still a gap in the long-term regulatory system for food safety, which is why aspartame is still on the market even after safety problems have been reported. We know that food safety is a priority. Although Thaumatin is derived from plants and its safety can be guaranteed, it is necessary for us to establish a comprehensive and multi-dimensional legal regulatory system to fill this gap before the product is marketed. Therefore, we have developed the Genetically Modified Foods Long-term Safety Regulatory Manual to ensure the safety and sustainability of this field. By exploring national and corporate regulatory practices, reading laws and regulations, and interviewing experts, we have developed a viable long-term regulatory policy and safety assurance.
Finally, we have written The Biosecurity and Bioethics Whitepaper, which covers our work in the field of genetically modified food over the past year, as well as our recommendations. In The Biosecurity and Bioethics Whitepaper we emphasize the importance of responsibly producing synthetic biology food, provide a detailed interpretation of the differences in food safety regulations at home and abroad, and propose valuable suggestions for future regulatory improvements, highlighting the importance of complying with bioethics and safety regulations in the application of biotechnology.
In summary, by establishing our own legal manual system, we have developed a specialized, feasible, and standardized legal network system for our products, ensuring safety from field trials to production processing and then to product marketing. This provides a solid legal foundation and basis for the development of genetically modified food in the future and is of great significance in the food industry.
Sweetein Business Plan
Comprehensive legal and product manuals were built to create favorable conditions for the product launch and a solid foundation for starting a business. Subsequently, focusing on the project itself, we have written a Sweetein Business Plan, proposing a viable, scalable, and creative product development plan drive the upscaling and transformation of tomato sugar substitutes.
In Entrepreneurship, we started with market demand surveys and found that the public is now more willing to try sugar substitute products, with the market demand for sugar substitutes continuously expanding. Secondly, we measured the possibility of launching sugar substitute products from three dimensions: technological feasibility, economic feasibility, and community feasibility, and formulated a detailed market launch plan, creating a unique Sweetein Business Plan for tomato sugar substitutes. With this Sweetein Business Plan, we can provide more rational and appropriate theoretical guidance for the market launch of tomato sugar substitutes, assess the risks associated with the product launch, and develop corresponding management measures. We aim to remove all obstacles in the product implementation process, promote the steady development of the genetically modified food industry, accelerate transformation and upgrading, and draw a business blueprint for tomato sugar substitutes.
Apart from that, we have also been thoughtful in product packaging. On the one hand, we have created genetically modified packaging labels to distinguish them from non-genetically modified foods, ensuring consumers' right to know and choose genetically modified products. Specifically, we have considered special groups such as the blind and included Braille in the product packaging design to safeguard the legal rights and interests of these special groups. On the other hand, we have established a sweetness unit according to the hardware, and we will set up a concentration-based sweetness unit.
A standardized sweetness evaluation system will be established based on the sweetness of food products, and the sweetness level of the products will be indicated on the food packaging. This will facilitate consumers in comparing the sweetness of different sweet foods and help them better select the sweet products suitable for them. We expect that by establishing a unified sweetness measurement unit, we can build a standardized and integrated world of sweetness on a global scale.
Learn more in Entrepreneurship.
[2] Ahmad R, Dalziel JE. G protein-coupled receptors in taste physiology and pharmacology. Front Pharmacol. 2020;11:587664.
[3] Li Tao, Niu Chunan, Peng Donghai, et al. Suggestion to support and promote the development of natural sugar substitutes industry [N]. China Food Safety News, 2024-03-06 (B03). DOI: 10.28737/n.cnki.nspzl.2024.000522.
[4] Inglett, G.E., May, J.F. Tropical plants with unusual taste properties. Econ Bot 22, 326–331 (1968).
[5] B. Zhang, J. Ma, K. Ou, X. Cong, H. Zou, Y. Liao, Y. Yang, H. Wang Luminescent lanthanide metallogel as a sensor array to efficiently discriminate various saccharides.J. Mol. Liq., 376 (2023), Article 121447
[6] Sun, X., Chapin, B.M., Metola, P. et al. The mechanisms of boronate ester formation and fluorescent turn-on in ortho-aminomethylphenylboronic acids. Nat. Chem. 11, 768–778 (2019).
