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Sunblock in pill form?
photo by Steve Evans (babasteve on Flickr CC)
Researchers from Kings College London are studying the symbiotic relationship between coral and algae living in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. They found that in order to survive in strong sunlight, coral produces compounds that act as a natural sunscreen.
Scientists hope to use genetic engineering to recreate the compounds in a laboratory back in the UK and eventually develop a sunscreen in pill form.
Since the compound is already present in the food chain in the coral reefs – small fish ingest it while feeding off the coral, larger fish eat them and so on – the scientists hope it can be eventually metabolized by humans.
From BBC News:
Once we recreate the compounds we can put them into a lotion and test them on skin discarded after cosmetic surgery tummy tucks. We will not know how much protection against the sun it might give until we begin testing. But there is a need for better sunscreens.
–Dr Paul Long, King’s College London
It seems that there are two main aspects to this research: one is the slightly creepy idea of genetic engineering that could result in pill popping instead of slathering on sunblock. In fact, this may be an important human health breakthrough and especially useful as the climate changes. In a country like Australia, where many people of Northern European decent live in a hot, sunny climate, it is particularly significant. According to Australia’s Cancer Council “two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the time they are 70”.
The other aspect has to do with the coral reefs themselves and the phenomenon of coral bleaching, which is caused by an increase in water temperature, increased solar radiation, ocean acidification, pollution, etc. Coral colonies die off when the algae that they depend on dies.
Coral reefs are thought to be the Earth’s greatest source of biodiversity, and therefore a potential treasure trove of new medicines.
Check out the following video from King’s College London for more:
See also:
Drink wine, don’t get sunburned (msnbc)
Tags: australia, coral reefs, king's college, london, pill, sunscreen
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