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Wednesday, June 21, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
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Clarence Buller, professor of microbiology, credits his discovery of a polymer, which might be used to restore the body's recovery to diet control, by chance.
Sometimes a scientist's discovery is only as good as his luck.
"I'll tell you how science works," Buller said, "it's all accidents."
Professor discovers polymer
by Sharon Chapman Kansan staff writer
He discovered the polymer while researching a bacteria that could be helpful in producing energy, Buller said.
Kansan staff writer
"That's what you call serendipity kind of an accident," he said. "Then we always say 'Well this is the way it is' named it, but that's not always true."
"I isolated the bacteria that makes it in 1981 and identified the polymer sometime between 1984 and 1986," he said.
After analyzing his discovery,
Buller found it was 95 percent sugar.
Most cells are only 50 percent sugar.
The polymer may eventually be used for diet control. It's the pure form of the active ingredient found in
It can be dissolved and releged if it's not placed correctly, he said. Gels use now cannot be controlled underground or dissolved as easily.
A polymer is any of a number of natural and synthetic compounds of usually high molecular weight consisting of repeated linked units, each a relatively light and simple molecule.
Buller also is working on a project with Shapour Vossoughi, associate professor of chemical and petroleum engineering. They think the polymer could be used as a gel for oil recovery.
is polymer properties. Bauer's Buller's polymer is distinct because it's not soluble in water like most polysaccharides.
Buller said his polymer would have many practical applications because it wasn't soluble in water
"A large potential comes from the fact that it a hydrogel," he said. The polymer is a hydrogel because, in a gel state, it traps water in the spaces between the entwined molecules.
Patents are pending on both the production of the polymer and the use of the gel in oil recovery. Buller takes 3 to 4 years to receive a patent.
Buller's polymer is a polysaccharide. A group of nine or more monsaccharides joined by bonds such as
oat fiber.
"The sugars have a lot of different ways they can be hooked together. How it is hooked together determines its physical properties." Buller said.
"With our gel, if you screw up, then you don't get killed by the owner because you ruined his well," Buller said. "You can just dissolve it."
"By virtue of it being a hydrogel, anything that dissolves in water can be put into this gel and will slowly leak out." Buller said.
starch or cellulose form polysaccharides.
A polysaccharide may seem like something only a microbiology or organic chemistry student could understand, but it's a piece of paper or a cotton shirt.
It's safe to eat, although it's not digestible and calories aren't consumed, he said.
Paper, cotton and starch are three polysaccharides people use daily.
Buller said he wouldn't commercialize the polymer because of the high costs of introducing a new product.
"But, if you have something with a lot of potential, you also try to make sure the right people hear," he said.
Buller said he had already heard from people who were interested in developing other projects with the polymer