Seaweed can help us heal, a University of Otago researcher says.<\/p>\n
Department of pharmacology and toxicology Associate Prof Lyn Wise has been trying to figure out how to use the marine algae to help people recover from burn wounds.<\/p>\n
She discovered Agrisea New Zealand Seaweed, found near the Coromandel, had the right properties to adapt to skin better than other materials.<\/p>\n
She said the intrinsic structure of the seaweed looked a lot like the layers of the skin and the idea was to see if it could support skin cells.<\/p>\n
The initial application for the product was to help treat burn patients.<\/p>\n
It could be used as dressing for a patient while they are recovering and it could help grow cells to apply on the burn permanently.<\/p>\n
Of all the materials that had been trialled in the lab, the seaweed worked the best to grow sheets of skin cells on.<\/p>\n
It was really versatile, so could adapt to the cells sprayed on it easily, she said.<\/p>\n
The seaweed, which was brought from a family-owned business in Paeroa, was the right combination of molecules to be used.<\/p>\n
The molecules that were extracted from the seaweed included alginate, a common material used in skincare and wound healing, and cellulose, which usually came from plants and was used for dressing.<\/p>\n
The seaweed had lots of “moisture-loving” material and antioxidants that could help with ageing and and inflammation.<\/p>\n
There was a lot of skin care products that used those products, but their suppliers were not buying New Zealand materials.<\/p>\n