So what sets her apart from the average environmentalist trying to live a chemical-free life? Fogg is an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa's Chemistry Department. That means she spends most of her day working with chemicals-often the very chemicals that make any environmentalist's heart skip a beat.
So how does Fogg reconcile her environmental concerns with her work life? Simple. She's a proponent of so-called "green" chemistry.
Fogg's research involves using the science of "catalysis." Catalysis is the process of creating the catalysts that drive chemical reactions (but are themselves unaffected by those reactions). As a major force in the research occurring at the U of O's Centre for Catalysis Research and Innovation, Fogg is developing new catalysts to join disparate molecules together, creating an entirely new entity. That way, she can more precisely control chemical reactions, directing the molecules she works with to do their jobs more precisely-without wasting energy. Best of all, the approach doesn't create harmful byproducts.
"Catalysis is an inherently green technology," says Fogg. "Whenever you use a catalyst for a chemical reaction, you are lowering the energy requirements involved. You're also reducing waste and developing the means of making molecules that are going to be of direct interest to the public—like pharmaceuticals."
Many conventional drugs have a property known as "handedness." The receptors (or proteins), in or on our cells are often either left-handed or right-handed. When we take medicine to treat an illness, those drug molecules must adhere to the cell receptors to interact with them and do their work. But if you deliver a drug molecule that is a mixture of both hands, only one of those molecules-either the left-handed shape or the right-handed shape-will interact efficiently with our body. That's because only one of the drug's "hands" will match the receptor's "hand." Unfortunately, conventional methods of synthesizing drugs create drug molecules that are a mixture of both hands, and both shapes. That means, in the best-case scenario, 50 percent of any drug we take is simply ballast. Not only does it not have the desired therapeutic effect, it also places an undesirable load on the kidneys and liver.
"In the worst-case scenario, there may be side effects," says Fogg. She cites Thalidomide-a drug prescribed in the 1950s and 1960s to treat morning sickness during pregnancy-as an example. One "hand" of Thalidomide acted as a desired sedative; the other "wrong hand" of the molecule caused birth defects.
Fogg and her group are designing catalytic molecules that are either left-handed or right-handed. That will enable chemists to synthesize only one hand of a drug. "We can make drugs more cost-effectively, with fewer side effects," says Fogg. "I think most of us are worried about side effects when we have a pill. Most of us realize that at some level, there is always a price. But what we should be doing is getting rid of the price that's associated with something that's not doing us any good in the first place."
Benefits
Catalysis is at the heart of most of the world's major industrial sectors-from fuel refining to chemical production, and environmental remediation to pharmaceutical and plastics manufacturing. In fact, catalysts are involved in 90 percent of all chemical processes. Since the global chemical industry is worth roughly $1 trillion a year, even modest innovations can produce major economic benefits.
At the University of Ottawa, chemist Deryn Fogg and her team are developing brand new catalysts to help shorten the synthesis of complex organic compounds. The first one — known as the Fogg-Conrad catalyst and named after Fogg and one of her graduate students — is based on ruthenium, a precious metal. The catalyst helps carbon molecules bond to other carbon molecules, such as pharmaceuticals. Even before Fogg published a paper describing her new catalyst, companies around the world began to call, interested in using the catalyst in their particular chemical processes.
One of the reasons the Fogg-Conrad catalyst is so appealing to industry is its durability. Because they are based on precious metals, catalysts are expensive to make. Usually, one catalyst can only join up to 100 molecules together before dying out itself. But Fogg's catalyst can join up to 40,000 molecules — and that's a significant savings for industry.
If these new catalysts succeed in creating a new generation of drugs with fewer side effects, the results will be worth billions to Canadian industry and will have a major impact on the Canadian pharmaceutical sector.
Partners
At the University of Ottawa's Eye Institute, biologist May Griffith is working with chemist Deryn Fogg to create artificial corneas.
Griffith's goal is to be able to make an artificial substitute for living tissue, not merely a prosthesis. With Fogg's help, she's moving closer to that accomplishment.
At the Catalysis Research and Innovation Centre, where Fogg is the Associate Director, the researchers are able to conduct what Griffith calls "some really fancy chemistry." They're able to design unique molecules with unique properties, achieving results that Griffith can't get with off-the-shelf materials. For instance, Griffith's team was having trouble with the collagen they were using to recreate the scaffolding—or structure—around the artificial cornea. Thanks to Fogg's unique catalyst, Griffith was able to stiffen the collagen.
"She's able to mimic structures of natural proteins, or sugars," says Griffith about Fogg. "If you're able to mimic the structure, you're making a stealth-like material, which means the body's immune system and cells aren't able to detect it as foreign."
As a result of the innovation, the body won't reject the artificial corneas. It's a critical development in a process that could eventually meet the needs of 10 million people worldwide who are awaiting corneal transplants. And it's all as a result of a partnership between chemistry and biology, made possible by the two researchers' close proximity and the resources available at the University of Ottawa.
