Team:Stanford

A Novel Approach to Combatting the Grapefruit-Drug Effect

Why do we care?

The grapefruit-drug interaction is one of the most widely researched food-drug interactions. Despite the amount of information available, interactions between medications and grapefruit consumption can still cause major problems for many patients. Watch our promotional video to learn more about the grapefruit-drug interaction and our proposed solution of creating a gut shield against the negative compounds found in grapefruits.

Medal Criteria

Bronze:

• Project Description
• Contribution
• Attributions and Citations

Silver:

• Human Practices
• Engineering Success
• Collaborations
• Implementation

Gold:

• Integrated Human Practices
• Modeling
• Education & Communication

How does the grapefruit-drug effect work?

Grapefruits contain compounds called Furanocoumarins that bind to CYP enzymes in the body. These enzymes are responsible for breaking down drugs before they are passed on to the liver. After binding with FCs they are rendered useless, decreasing a person’s ability to break down drugs, which could lead to lethal overdoses. This negative food drug interaction affects more than 100 common, everyday medications and millions of people.

But now, we are working towards a solution. Introducing citrus safe! By using colonies of gut bacteria and an enzyme found in black swallowtail butterflies that can detoxify furanocoumarins, we can create a gut shield to protect ourselves from potential lethal doses of drugs in the small intestine. With citrus safe, you can stay worry-free knowing that you’ll be able to safely consume grapefruit with your medications by harnessing the power of your gut microbiome.

Thank You!

We're excited to show you what we've done with our project. Click the links above to check out our work! To build off our work or for any questions, email us at igem_2021@lists.stanford.edu