Chitin crustacean waste and mushrooms for possible development of products in tissue engineering, medicine, and industry. Chitin Chitin (CHON) ( ), a long-chain polymer of "N"-acetylglucosamine, is a derivative of glucose. It is a primary component of cell walls in fungi, the exoskeletons of arthropods, such as crustaceans (e.g., crabs, lobsters and shrimps) and insects, the radulae of molluscs, cephalopod beaks, and the scales of fish and lissamphibians. The structure of chitin is comparable to another polysaccharide - cellulose, forming crystalline nanofibrils or whiskers. In terms of function, it may be compared to the protein keratin. Chitin has proved useful for
Fluorescent glucose biosensor addition to the fluorophore(s), a molecule that confers glucose specificity, in general, a protein. A variety of proteins have been used for this purpose, often with different labs concentrating on one particular protein. The first glucose biosensor reported in the literature was made in 1982 by Schultz’group using a competition assay between glucose and a labelled glucose polymer for the binding site of Concanavalin A entrapped in a hollow dialysis fibre. As a result, Con A was widely used in subsequent sensors in several labs, however Con A suffers from the downside of high toxicity and low reversibility. As a