Functional fragrance formula: A new method to prevent and treat tuberculosis

Global BioLife Inc. will be presenting its research on its Functional Fragrance Formula (3F) against tuberculosis at the 2020 American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Biothreats Conference. The 2020 ASM Biothreats Conference will take place from 28 January 2020 to 30 January 2020 in Arlington, Virginia.

ASM is one of the largest life science societies, with more than 30,000 members, including researchers, educators, and health professionals. The ASM Board of Directors supplies strategic direction to the society and focuses on biodefense and emerging diseases.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. TB, which primarily affects the lungs, is transmitted through the open air when an infected person sneezes, coughs, talks, or laughs. The symptoms of TB include a low-grade fever, night sweats, weakness or tiredness, and weight loss. TB kills someone approximately every 18 seconds, causing over 1.6 million deaths in 2017 alone. According to the World Health Organization, about one-quarter of the world's population has latent TB, which means people have been infected by TB bacteria but are not (yet) ill with the disease and cannot transmit the disease, making it the top infectious killer in the world.

In 2017, Singapore eDevelopment Limited (SeD) announced a collaboration between Global BioLife and United States based Chemia Corporation (Chemia), a company involved in providing high quality, cost effective fragrances to the manufacturers of personal care, household and industrial & institutional products, based in the United States of America, to develop a suite of fragrances labelled Functional Fragrance Formulation (3F) that can go towards fighting the disease rather than just smell pleasant. "The impact of functional fragrances will transform the modern perfume industry", said Mr. Thomas A. Meyer, Chemia's Vice-President of Innovation and Sustainability.

Global BioLife's Director of Scientific Initiatives, Daryl Thompson, has led this research. 3F is a new paradigm, designed to provide solutions for emerging epidemics and pandemics globally using cutting edge methods", says Thompson.

Global BioLife and Chemia Corporation had contracted American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), to conduct the testing in their High Containment Laboratory under Biosafety Level 3 conditions. ATCC was established in 1925 and is a leading developer and supplier of authenticated cells lines and microorganisms who designs custom services for testing the world's most dangerous viruses and bacteria.

Global BioLife also relies on the expertise of former Senior Assistant Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Roscoe M. Moore Jr. (Dr. Moore), who also served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer with the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Moore, who is also the Chief Epidemiologist with the Center for Devices and Radiological Health in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said, "I am very excited about the results 3F has demonstrated. There is a strong need for new and effective measurement to address the spread of TB globally." Dr. Moore was recently appointed to the Board of Advisors for the Institute of Human Virology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland.

"It is an honor to be invited to present our groundbreaking research at the 2020 ASM Biothreat Conference", said SeD's Executive Chairman Mr. Chan Heng Fai.

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