Team:Exeter/Applications

The potential for new applications across the medical sector is vast. They range from external uses in treatment to effective cures.

Several polysaccharides currently show antiseptic properties making them very useful in the medical world. Chitosan has also shown an anti-clotting ability making it a potential candidate for wound dressings or gels. We would suggest the next step would be to create a bio-friendly gel that could be used during operations to prevent/stop bleeds more effectively than the current gauze approach.

It is believed we are well overdue a flu outbreak of pandemic levels we believe our research could lead to rapid vaccine production which would save millions in the event of an outbreak. - - This would be achieved by simple inspection of the virus to determine the type of polysaccharide required for a vaccine.

Blood types are distinguished solely by surface polysaccharides which produce a different surface signal. In the future we envisage a system where donor blood could be ‘masked’ to display the properties of acceptors blood. This would be achieved by creating a polysaccharide that could bind to the surface of the donor blood and display the same properties as the acceptor blood on the extreme surface thus passing as the host blood type. This method of masking could then be progressed to donor tissue and organs with possibility of entire body parts being transplanted.

Blood type is determined exclusively by polysaccharides on the surface of blood cells. In the future we envisaged a system by which a donars blood type could be 'masked', and therefore readily induced to the accepters blood despite not matching. This could be achieved by creating a polysaccharide which binds to the donar blood whilst exhibiting the properties of the accepters blood.