1. Enzyme could help smokers quit
Nicotine is the addictive substance in cigarettes. It affects smokers’ brains and makes it hard for them to stop smoking.
Scientists have found a way to break down the nicotine using an enzyme. The enzyme had to be changed slightly.
Scientists have tested the enzyme on rats. Rats are less likely to be addicted to nicotine when they are given the enzyme. So, if we give the enzyme to people who are trying to stop smoking, it may help them as well.
However, another scientist is worried the enzyme may be neutralised by the human body’s immune system.
Read the full article at rsc.li/2ETtyVg, first published 23 January 2018
This slide summarises a recent article published by Chemistry World. Use this slide as a lesson starter.
Image credit: Royal Society of Chemistry
A nicotine molecule © Royal Society of Chemistry

2. Enzyme could help smokers quit
Nicotine is the addictive substance in cigarettes. It affects smokers’ brains and makes it hard for them to stop smoking.
Scientists have found a way to break down the nicotine using an enzyme. The enzyme had to be changed slightly.
A nicotine molecule © Royal Society of Chemistry
Scientists have tested the enzyme on rats. Rats are less likely to be addicted to nicotine when they are given the enzyme. So, if we give the enzyme to people who are trying to stop smoking, it may help them as well.
However, another scientist is worried the enzyme may be neutralised by the human body’s immune system
Read the full article at rsc.li/2ETtyVg, first published 23 January 2018
This slide summarises a recent article published by Chemistry World. Use this slide as a lesson starter. It also contains questions which can be used to engage pupils.
Image credit: Royal Society of Chemistry
If you are addicted you might: want it more than food and water; take the substance over meeting friends or going to work; take so much that it hurts you physically; spend lots of money on it; have mood changes/get angry/be in pain/shake/get withdrawal symptoms when you haven’t had it for a while
(Pupils might not know anything about enzymes and be working only from the text) Basic level- something that breaks down nicotine; mid-level- something that breaks down other substances; high-level- something that increases the rate of a reaction; model answer- a biological catalyst– catalysts increase the rate of a specific reaction by providing an alternative path for the reaction to occur
Safer than testing it on humans because we value human lives more; provide evidence that it works, making it more likely for people to fund your research; rats aren’t that different from humans genetically (both mammals) so it will provide some information; because that is what drug companies expect/want you to do
Rats and humans are different, so the information is of limited use; what if it works on rats but not on humans?; what if it works on humans but not on rats?; we shouldn’t test drugs on animals, it’s cruel
Describe what it is like to be addicted to something.
What do you think an enzyme is?
What are the advantages of testing the enzyme on rats first?
What are the disadvantages of testing the enzyme on rats first?