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Tuesday, June 15, 2004The ingredients of the cream are proprietary, but Kimball said she believes the inhibitor works in several ways. For one, it naturally repels water, making it difficult for the jellyfish to make contact with the skin, she said. It also contains a mixture of sugar and protein that is similar to a substance found in the jellyfish bell. Jellyfish use their bells as a recognition system, so that when the creature comes into contact with the substance, it thinks it's found itself instead of some tempting human flesh. Finally, the cream is believed to disrupt the jellyfish's communication system so that it doesn't get the signal to release its venom, she said. Does it work? Kimball said the study doesn't settle the question of whether the cream works in open water, though anecdotal evidence suggests it might. Paul Auerbach, MD, former chief of emergency medicine at Stanford and one of the researchers, said he initially tried the cream about five years ago by smearing some on half of his neck and then jumping into the Mexican ocean awash in thimble jellyfish. "The side I painted had two little red bumps on it, and the side I didn't paint looked like a road map of Florida. That's what convinced me we should do the studies." The studies in question were done on land, not the sea. It remains to be seen how well the stuff will stay on in pounding surf. But it's already for sale. Jellyfish certainly can be dangerous (first aid tips for stings here), but they're also beautiful. posted by Sydney on 6/15/2004 10:46:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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