Yesterday evening was my high school reunion. I wouldn’t say it was a roaring success. Most conversations went something like this:
“So, what do you do now, Eugene?”
“I’m a geneticist.”
“Oh, okay…”
Talking about a science career can be a real conversation killer sometimes.
That was until I ran into a bully from ten years ago. His response was more original. He gave a laugh and shouted out to everyone within ear range: “Hey guys, Eugene works with genes now.” I didn’t know it was possible for someone to mature so little in ten years.

Our ex-teachers thought a trip down memory lane would be fun so they seated us at desks in a classroom that brought back not-so-fond memories and each gave us a five-minute talk. I started fidgeting since I’m not too good at sitting still for long and then I made a fatal mistake. I must have been running my fingers over the oddly shaped, smooth bumps underneath the desk for several minutes before it dawned on me and I realised what I was doing. The bumps were chewing gum from generations gone by. Eeew. But that made me suddenly think… what if I was a chewing gum scientist? That’s actually a conversation starter.

Now you may be going: “Chewing gum scientist? Get real.” I’m being serious. With 374 billion pieces of chewing gum being chewed worldwide every year (that’s 187 billion hours of gum-chewing altogether) and the average US citizen consuming 2.5 kg of gum per year, chewing gum is big money. Five billion US dollars big every year. So, yes, there are people who can introduce themselves at a party by saying: “I’m a chewing gum scientist.”

There are many different kinds of chewing gum scientists. Some chemists are dedicated to finding chewier gum base, while others are trying to figure out how to release flavour gradually so you don’t suck the joy out of your chewing gum within two minutes. Other scientists are trying to make medicated chewing gum a reality. Imagine going to the pharmacy and getting prescription chewing gum! Actually, some medicated chewing gums already exist. Some treat motion sickness, while others contain aspirin to get rid of a headache or nicotine to help people kick their smoking habit. Some have caffeine to make you more alert or Aloe vera and green tea that work as antioxidants.

Even if chewing gum doesn’t contain any medication, sugar-free chewing gum can be pretty good for you. The chewing action releases saliva, and your teeth love this because saliva keeps them healthy. Chewing gum also improves your working memory, alertness and processing speed for about fifteen minutes after you stop chewing. The chewing gum scientists are still working on why that is - it could be due to the increased blood flow to your brain or the increased sugar in your blood, both of which are triggered by the chewing action. Regardless, it doesn’t really make your brain work so much better that it would help much in an exam. And what would you do with it anyway when you’re done chewing? You can’t get up and take it to the bin. Maybe you could swallow it. Apparently, that’s not as bad for you as everyone says. Your body can’t digest it since most gum bases are virtually plastic, so it just leaves your body at the other end. But then again, it has made some unlucky individuals constipated.

Speaking of gum bases - the ancient Egyptians, Mayans and early American Indians all chewed natural gum: tree resins. In 1848 a man named John Curtis and his son came along and boiled spruce tree sap, then added sugar, flavour and fillers. They packaged the resulting chewing gum sticks in tissue paper and called it the catchiest name they could think of: The State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum. Sounds appetising, but I’d rather stick to the modern chewing gums, thank you very much.

Want to dig deeper? See if you can find the answers to these questions:
1. Find the meaning of and one fact about the following terminology:
a. Aspirin
b. Nicotine
c. Aloe vera
d. Antioxidant
2. Why is sugar bad for your teeth?
3. How does a spruce tree look? Where does it grow? What is a conifer?

Feeling creative?
Write a poem from a piece of chewing gum’s point of view, describing what it feels like to be bought in the shop, then to be chewed. For the ending you can decide what happens to the gum - maybe it gets swallowed, or it is thrown into a bin and ends up in a landfill. It could even get stuck onto something interesting.

Practical project:
There are basically two options for making your own gum at home:
a. Substitute gum base for beeswax: https://simpleandseasonal.com/beeswax...
b. Buy gum base: https://kids.lovetoknow.com/kids-cook...

Bibliography
1. Imfeld, T. Chewing Gum—Facts and Fiction: a Review of Gum-Chewing and Oral Health. Crit. Rev. Oral Biol. Med. 10, 405–419 (1999).
2. Aslani, A. & Rostami, F. Medicated chewing gum, a novel drug delivery system. J. Res. Med. Sci. 20, 403–11 (2015).
3. Onyper, S. V, Carr, T. L., Farrar, J. S. & Floyd, B. R. Cognitive advantages of chewing gum. Now you see them, now you don’t. Appetite 57, 321–328 (2011).