Conical flasks of green liquid jiggle in rotating trays while women in white lab coats study yellowing yeast samples. One has grown into the shape of a smiley face. On the other side of the laboratory, something important is happening with vials, pipettes and foil-covered bottles containing what looks a lot like urine.
The aim is to produce a chewing gum that accurately predicts the female fertility cycle. “We need to see if the active ingredient survives in chewing gum, then we’ll add flavours,” says one of the researchers, Anett Stèger.
A team of 13 students from the University of Copenhagen is on a mission to create a product to help women improve their chances of getting pregnant. Biotechnology and molecular bioscience students have been working together to create a “smart chewing gum” that will change colour to show where women are in their menstrual cycles.
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The plan is to replace baker’s yeast with human hormone receptors that can measure the oestrogen, LH and progesterone that are present in saliva when a woman is ovulating. The project, nicknamed “Ovulaid”, was started as a Danish entry into iGEM, the world championship in synthetic biology, which starts in Boston at the end of October.
The researchers are an international bunch, with scientists from Nepal, India, Germany and Hungary as well as Denmark. Seven are women.
“The competition can get quite intense,” says Stèger, who is Hungarian. “We’re working 40 hours a week on this, on top of our normal studies – so the drop-out rate is usually high. But we’ve only had one person leave. It’s a project we’re all really passionate about.”
A fellow team-member, Hitesh Gelli Praveenkumar from India, first came up with the idea of a diagnostic gum when the group began brainstorming in February, before Benedicte Smith-Sivertsen, a Dane, suggested it could help women conceive.
“My sister was going through fertility treatment at the time,” says Smith-Sivertsen, “and I was surprised by how hard it was – all these huge syringes and peeing on sticks every day. I just thought, why hasn’t anyone made this easier?”
Most over the counter ovulation tests currently monitor LH levels, with higher end and more expensive ovulation tests measuring LH and oestrogen. “But we thought, what about a chewing gum that could do all of that, as well as measuring progesterone (which helps the uterus prepare for pregnancy) at a fraction of the cost?” says Stèger.
There is clearly some work to be done. A prototype tastes a bit like wax.
The researchers are working on a smartphone app to accompany the chewing gum for easy interpretation of the colour results and the gum is biodegradable.
“The plan is that the gum will be very discreet in terms of packaging, available in supermarkets in a variety of flavours, and much, much cheaper than existing ovulation tests measuring LH and oestrogen that you pee on,” says Stèger.
The hope is that Ovulaid will also have a developing world application. “We’ve conducted research with gynaecology clinics in rural India, where many hospitals don’t have the resources for regular fertility testing,” says Gelli, “so there’s a real excitement about the gum.”
They’ve also looked into the impact it could have on areas such as Africa, where infertility is taboo. However, the market that may prove trickiest is Europe because the gum will contain a genetically-modified biosensor, and GM is tightly controlled in the EU.
As part of the project, the team surveyed 1,500 women, 90% of whom said they still would like to use the product despite the fact that it contains GM elements. “And we’ve had hundreds of women getting in touch telling us they love the idea,” adds Stèger.
Dr Shabana Bora, a fertility specialist at the Lister Fertility Clinic in London not involved in the project, expressed cautious optimism about the work, saying “since many existing ovulation tests create a lot of plastic waste, a biodegradable gum could help be a more eco-friendly, cost-effective alternative.”
This article is part of a series on possible solutions to some of the world’s most stubborn problems. What else should we cover? Email us at theupside@theguardian.com