This spring we remodeled our swimming pool, and also changed it to a salt-water system with an electronic chlorine generator. I researched how the generator worked; was it a sound technology and ultimately a time- and money-saver? The chemistry was another question: how did it differ from commercially available forms of pool chlorine (such as solid di- and tri-chlors or liquid sodium hypochlorite) or for that matter, Clorox® bleach? I won’t get into the details here, except to say all these products (and my chlorine generator) lead to the formation of hypochlorous acid (HClO), which kills bacteria.
Chlorine has been employed for over 200 years to disinfect and sanitize. But until fairly recently (2008) no one really understood how it worked.
The unanticipated research findings came from a group of molecular biologists at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. They were studying heat shock protein Hsp33; a protein found in bacteria that protects the cell from oxidative heat stress. The researchers found that HClO stimulates Hsp33, and demonstrated that HOCl kills bacteria by causing irreversible unfolding and aggregation of predominantly thermolabile proteins (think ‘boiled egg’). Their research further suggests this is not a function of the thermodynamic properties of HOCl, but is more likely due to faster reaction rates (compared to other oxidizers) with amino acids. Their findings “Bleach Activates a Redox-Regulated Chaperone by Oxidative Protein Unfolding” can be viewed here and the full-text Author Manuscript here.
What’s neat is the team from the University of Michigan made an unintended discovery. Their research revealed information not sought-after. But the team followed the lead, and investigated and published their findings. In doing so they increased our understanding of chlorine bleach. How might an unanticipated discovery (in the lab or in the literature) impact your projects and lead in new directions?
My pool electronic chlorine generator works great, by-the-way. And understanding how it works makes me happy.
Robin Holmes Information Services 