- My name is Sam Talbot.
I'm a chef and an author.
I really think that sugar consumption
is an epidemic for all of us.
Without it, we would have less obesity,
we would have less metabolic health issues,
we would have less dental issues.
By the end of the day, it's really easy to see
how it all adds up.
It's sugar-filled soft drinks and drinks in general.
It's everywhere.
I started cooking at a really young age.
By the time I was 14, I was getting paid to cook.
Cooking is my life and it's my love.
You know, the rest of my life, I'm very chill.
I don't take things too seriously,
but what I do take seriously is sugar.
I learned about sugar the hard way.
I got diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 11 years old
and sugar is my number one enemy.
If you're a diabetic at a young age
and having to check your blood sugar,
there was a lot of uncertainty behind it.
You know, it's tricky, right
because, in the United States,
they measure sugar with grams.
You know, what does that mean?
With these manufacturers, there is no transparency.
It's hidden through grams.
Disease is a heavy word when you're a kid.
Going out to eat with my friends at a younger age,
you felt awkward, you know.
They were eating pizzas and I was eating Greek salads.
I became very responsible with knowing
what goes into your body matters
and white sugar is a toxin.
You just don't need it.
Diabetics never get a break.
I check my blood sugar religiously,
maybe five, maybe 10 times a day.
To manage my diabetes, I wear a CGM,
which is a continuous glucose monitor,
but when I go to the beach
and I take off my shirt and I have the sensor here,
it's that level of, like, awkwardness.
I'm really passionate about finding alternatives
that are out there to be able to help measure my glucose.
I'm here at UC Davis.
I'm about to meet Katia Vega.
I'm very excited because she's an expert
in wearable technologies.
- I have been working with wearable technologies
and more specifically, with the skin
and how we could create different devices
that could be on the body surface.
So imagine that you could blink and turn the lights,
or with your fingernail, you could pay the metro.
- Katia, this is your lab?
This is not what I expected.
This is very different from my lab.
You know, my lab has knives and bowls and blenders.
I see mannequins and fingernails.
You know, walking into Katia's lab for the first time,
looked like a movie set.
- So this project is called The Dermal Abyss,
and, when we
started this project,
we were asking this question
of how we could read information
that is inside of your body
and you usually don't have access to.
For example, when you wanted to know your cholesterol levels
or your glucose levels,
you have to go to the hospital
and wait until you have the results,
and that's how we started to think about these biosensors.
Biosensors are these chemicals
that they react and they change color.
- So that's the biosensor,
the liquid? - This is the biosensor.
- [Sam] Holy schmoly.
- So that's why we started to think about tattoos.
They change color depending of the changes
that are inside of your body.
So imagine that Samuel, for example, with diabetes.
They are glucose levels go up and down.
And if they could see their tattoo that is changing,
they could know when they will need more insulin.
- [Sam] This would help measure my blood glucose levels?
- That's a hope that we have.
- The fact that I might be able to get a new tattoo
in my collection in the future
that can really help check my blood sugar,
you know, keep me healthier, I love that idea.
This is huge.
I'm really excited because we're going to the tattoo parlor.
The artist there is gonna do the prototype
of the biosensor tattoo.
- So, we have a challenge for you today.
We have this project called The Dermal Abyss,
- Okay. - And this project
works with tattoos, but also in biosensors.
- That's basically like a mood ring,
of, like, a mood ring of tattoos, right,
so the tattoo is changing color
based on if my blood sugar's too high,
if my blood sugar's too low, if my pH balance,
can you, I mean, that's like crazy technology,
- That's, - Right?
- My mom has Type 2 diabetes
and, you know I thought about her immediately
and how, you know, something that I could do
could help benefit her in the long run.
- I am a Type 1 diabetic, right?
I've been living with it since I was 11.
So three years ago, I started this foundation
with three other co-founders called Beyond Type 1,
and we advocate, we educate,
and we support the path to a cure.
So this is our logo, right?
That's a blood drop.
Diabetics don't go throughout a day
without checking their blood sugar.
This blood drop represents a lot
and there's millions and millions
and millions of people that are affected worldwide,
so, you got a big task on you, dude.
Tony can take my blood drop
and put a little heart in there
and that can be the sensor for The Dermal Abyss.
You know, with Katia's
technology and Sam's inspiration,
this could take tattooing to a forefront
of something that's new.
- [Sam] That's awesome.
- [Katia] Yeah, it is.
- [Sam] Tony, I think this is beautiful, man.
- Yeah. - All right.
- Let's do it. - Wanna try it?
- I'm down. - Let's go.
- Let's do this. - Yeah.
- Let's do this.
- So what's the weirdest tattoo request
that you've ever gotten?
- This is, this is up there.
- [Tony] I'm gonna go the dots first on the outside.
- [Katia] Yeah.
- [Tony] You start with your darkest color first.
Yeah, the black came out solid.
- We could imagine,
for people that have diabetes,
- Of course.
- the glucose biosensor will be reading your glucose levels
and changing its color.
Here is your ink.
Each drop's a biosensor for glucose.
- Let's see how this goes in.
- Let's do it, brother.
Perfect, pretty cool.
- It's so nice, eh? Yeah.
- [Tony] Alright, ready?
Let's see if this works.
- [Katia] Yeah!
So, what's happening now is that,
it's going from pink to yellow,
simulating the skin reacting as it would be reacting
with what's happening inside your body.
- [Tony] There it goes.
- It's amazing, you ever seen anything like that?
- No, no I haven't.
- We really need this.
I mean, to be honest, I'm just completely blown away, right?
I mean,
to see the prototype go into action,
I mean, this is a Type 1 diabetic's dream.
No more devices, no more wires,
no more finger pricking.
- It's exciting for me to show
what we have been working for a long time.
- She's going to end up bettering millions
and millions of lives,
when this technology really is available to us.
Not all sugar is created equal.
When I say sugar is a toxin, I'm talking
about white, processed, granulated, milled sugar.
The food industry needs to step up
and be more transparent how much sugar
they're putting in their food,
and that starts with correct labeling.
Panera is the first, and only,
US restaurant chain that labels added sugars in teaspoons.
Which is great, because we all have
to be very diligent about our sugar intake,
not just people living with
diabetes,
all of us.
SoulPancake.