pd (06/07/82)
Has anyone heard of efforts by Genentech et al to produce a bacteria/plant that would produce an isomer of sucrose that looks and tastes like sugar but is otherwise completely ignored by the body? The properties of this sugar are apparently quite well known, but it has so far been only produced in the lab in small quantities. The implications of the discovery of a large scale production technique of this sugar are staggeringly yummy. Prem Devanbu (.....npois!eiss!pd)
rwhaas (06/08/82)
Although I haven't heard of any efforts to produce a sucrose isomer which is not metabolized but passes through the body, the possibility appears very real. I would conjecture that the glucose part would be L- rather than D-glucose. It is not uncommon for one optically active isomer to have certain physiological properties, while its mirror image may be very similar in simple chemical reactions but may react differently or not at all, in more complex environments, such as the chemistry inside the body. If memory serves correctly, the D- form of benzedrine is an "upper", while the L- form is mostly inactive. I've been out of chemistry for ten years. Can anyone confirm or deny any of this? Roy Haas ( mhuxt!rwhaas)
trb (06/08/82)
Something called levorotatory (lefthanded) sugar was discussed at great length about a year or so ago in the ARPANET HUMAN-NETS mailing list (newsgroup). The idea is that it's a molecular mirror image of the typical dextrorotatory sugar; it tastes good but your body doesn't recognize it. For you hackers out there, imagine trying to recognize characters with bad parity... If there is sufficient interest, maybe someone (not I) could dredge out a copy of the discussion and post it here. Andy Tannenbaum Bell Labs Whippany, NJ (201) 386-6491