Science Can Even Make Beer Taste Better

As you may know, my research emphasis is in optical sensing technologies. You may also know that my current research focuses on the use of imprinted polymers as a method of detecting the presence of a particular molecule or compound. To keep up with the trends in my field, I was conducting a brief literature search yesterday and I ran across a news article about imprinted polymers. The article, published in Science Daily, describes a research group that is utilizing an imprinted polymer to remove a compound from beer that drives photo-oxidation of beer and other beverages. My jaw hit the floor. Not only is this idea totally awesome, but I've been considering contacting brew masters in the area to discuss potential research projects that could be applied to the beer making industry. After all, my dream since the age of 10 was to become a brew master. What better way to use my expertise in biological engineering than to apply it to my childhood aspirations?

Anyways, I wanted to quickly summarize how this process works so that you can appreciate the beauty of its simplicity. Molecular imprinted polymers, or MIPs, begin as a liquid solution that contains all the necessary reagents to create a solid polymer matrix. While still in an unpolymerized fluid state, the molecule that you are interested in grabbing from the environment, called the template, is added. In this case, the template would be Riboflavin - the compound that causes beer to become photo-oxidized (also referred to as light-stricken). At this point, crosslinking of the solution is initiated by an input of energy, most often in the form of heat, and you end up with a solid polymer that contains bound Riboflavin. Now comes the important part: the Riboflavin is chemically extracted from the polymer, leaving behind binding sites that are chemically- and shape-specific to Riboflavin. When the MIP is then re-exposed to a solution that contains Riboflavin, such as beer, the Riboflavin binds to the imprinted binding sites of the MIP, the polymer is removed from the beer taking the bound Riboflavin with it, and you end up with Riboflavin-free beer. So by simply dipping this polymer into the liquid, you can create a beer that is considerably less susceptible to becoming light-stricken, keeping the beer tasting fresh and hoppy for much longer.

What a wonderful world in which we live!