A chemical found in fish could help reinvent your sunscreen

It’s been over 25 years since the FDA approved a new ingredient for sunscreen in the United States. But a molecule called gadusol found in fish and coral reefs is a promising candidate. It absorbs U. V. rays — acting like a built-in sunscreen for fish. But there’s a big hurdle if scientists want to turn gadusol into human sunscreen: They’d need to make a lot of it. A new study https://www.cell.com/trends/biotechnology/fulltext/S0167-7799(26)00098-3? out this week in the journal Trends in Biotechnology takes us a big step closer. Their solution? Using the bacteria best known for making your stomach hurt: e. Coli. Interested in more science? Email us your question at [email protected] mailto:[email protected]. Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave http://plus.npr.org/shortwave. See pcm.adswizz.com https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy

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• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:27Regina Barber?

  Hey, Short Wavers. Regina Barber here.

• 0:29Emily Kwong?

  And Emily Kwong with our biweekly Science News roundup, this time with a back-to-back visitor, our colleague, one of my heroes, Sasha Pfeiffer. Are you happy to hang out with us again?

• 0:40Speaker 03

  It is so fun to be back with you and in the studio. We've never all been in the studio, all three of us together.

• 0:44Emily Kwong?

  Yeah. Sasha, our first topic is to get you ready for summer. It's about a potential new sunscreen ingredient. How diligent are you with sunscreen?

• 0:51Speaker 03

  I am so diligent. And as all of us age, I think we start getting more and more concerned about our skin, which does not do good things as you age. So I am pretty religious about sunscreen.

• 1:00Regina Barber?

  Yeah, I also put sunscreen on my face religiously every morning. Been doing it for a long time. But I don't know if you know this, I'm also pretty artsy, I mean, for a science person.

• 1:10Emily Kwong?

  I've seen you draw and paint. You're good. And you were in a band.

• 1:15Regina Barber?

  I was in a couple of bands. But how artsy do you think you two are?

• 1:19Emily Kwong?

  I'm so artsy, it's shocking I'm on a science podcast. Like, I don't know how I ended up here, honestly.

• 1:24Speaker 03

  Well, this is probably the normal trajectory. But I'm less artsy than I was as a kid, and I feel like I need to return to it a little bit more.

• 1:30Regina Barber?

  Same.

• 1:30Emily Kwong?

  You're gonna want to, after you hear the study, because it may help you stay young.

• 1:34Speaker 03

  Oh, I'm all for that.

• 1:34Emily Kwong?

  Addition to the sunscreen.

• 1:36Regina Barber?

  Yeah, so we're gonna continue to talk about the arts, and we're gonna round out the topics with a look at a cheaper, more sustainable wood to make art with, a new marimba material. So that's that percussion instrument.

• 1:47Speaker 03

  Interesting. So these two topics connect so nicely.

• 1:50Regina Barber?

  We did it on purpose.

• 1:52Emily Kwong?

  Today on the show, whether you're playing in or outside this week, we have science news for you. You're listening to Short Wave, the science podcast from NPR.

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• 3:06Emily Kwong?

  All right, Sasha, we have so much to get through.

• 3:10Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 3:11Emily Kwong?

  Where do you want to start?

• 3:12Speaker 03

  Let's start, since it's summer, which means sunscreen season, with your sunscreen story.

• 3:17Emily Kwong?

  Yeah, Sasha, it's been over 25 years since the FDA approved a new ingredient for sunscreen in the US, but there is a promising candidate, a molecule called Gagisol. It's found in some fish and coral reefs, but if we want to incorporate this molecule into human sunscreen, we're going to need to make a lot of it. And a new study out this week in the journal Trends in Biotechnology takes us a big step closer.

• 3:39Speaker 03

  A molecule in fish and coral that is almost like built-in sunscreen. How does that work?

• 3:45Emily Kwong?

  So it absorbs UV rays, protecting fish from getting sunburn. That's how chemical sunscreens protect us humans. Researchers discovered Gagisol in codfish eggs around 40 years ago, but it's also found in coral reef ecosystems, zebrafish, and salmon eggs. And in this study, researchers did a whole series of engineering experiments to make more of this superpowered molecule.

• 4:08Speaker 03

  I'm going to note that I'm really good about wearing sunscreen, but the few times I've gotten slightly burned, I'm in the water. And so- So it's interesting that the fish have this protection.

• 4:15Regina Barber?

  They figured it out.

• 4:16Speaker 03

  So what kind of engineering experiments were done in the study?

• 4:20Regina Barber?

  Well, they turned to the workhorse of biology labs everywhere, E. coli bacteria.

• 4:24Speaker 03

  Ugh.

• 4:25Regina Barber?

  Yeah, and they programmed the bacteria to pump out a bunch of Gagisol, which is a lot easier and more sustainable than trying to harvest it from other sources like fish eggs.

• 4:35Speaker 03

  And meanwhile, by the way, the fish don't have to slather or spray sunscreen all over themselves. It's just built in.

• 4:40Regina Barber?

  So lucky.

• 4:41Emily Kwong?

  Evolution to that, yep.

• 4:42Speaker 03

  All right, so now that researchers have figured out how to produce this stuff more efficiently, what are the chances it becomes an actual product on store shelves and when?

• 4:51Regina Barber?

  Yeah, it'll be a while still. We talked to James Gagnon. He's a developmental biologist at the University of Utah, where he studies Gagisol. He didn't work on this study, by the way. But he said future research will be needed to figure out how to mix this ingredient with all the other things that go into sunscreen, to make it something you can spread on your skin. And then the FDA would have to approve it. But James thinks the study was a big step towards more Gagisol research and maybe even more research on the amazing properties of marine creatures.

• 5:18Speaker 05

  They've been facing the challenge of the sun hitting them since basically the origin of life on Earth. And so they've evolved a million amazing solutions we haven't explored. I think Gagisol is just the tip of the iceberg in this.

• 5:29Regina Barber?

  Another big plus for Gagisol? James says it only absorbs harmful wavelengths, not visible light.

• 5:35Speaker 05

  So this opens the door to sunscreens that will not make you pasty white.

• 5:39Speaker 03

  So interesting. All right, now I want to know how the arts might affect aging. Tell us about that one.

• 5:45Regina Barber?

  So researchers in the UK just published a study that suggests engaging in artistic activities weekly could slow aging to a similar extent as mild exercise. Participants who sang, danced, painted, went to museums, seemed a year younger biologically.

• 5:59Emily Kwong?

  Yeah, and this finding comes from a study of more than 3,500 adults in the UK. Those results appear in the journal Innovation in Aging.

• 6:07Speaker 03

  And how are these scientists measuring whether you're biologically younger?

• 6:11Regina Barber?

  Yeah, I spoke with lead researcher and epidemiologist Daisy Fancourt at University College London. She says that by looking at the participants' DNA from blood samples, you can see the effects of age. So some older DNA strands are harder to read.

• 6:27Speaker 06

  So a bit like pages in a book getting sticky. And as we get older, there are particular patterns of sticky pages that tend to occur.

• 6:35Regina Barber?

  The research team compared that biological data to survey data from the participants, where the participants shared what sort of activities they did and how often. The researchers found that artsy people who sang, danced, painted, and so on, tended to have biologically younger-looking DNA. Daisy thinks all of this might be because studies have shown engaging in the arts is known to lower stress, reduce inflammation, and is good for heart health.

• 7:00Speaker 03

  I think I need to pick up painting or something to try to slow my own aging process.

• 7:04Regina Barber?

  We should have a dance party right after this.

• 7:06Speaker 03

  But you know, you can imagine I'm going to ask this. There could be other factors. Like, people who go to dance classes or museums may have more money, and more money can mean better health. And they also might have more free time and be less stressed out. So what about those factors?

• 7:18Regina Barber?

  Right. I asked Daisy that, too, and her team controlled for all of that and still saw these results. And their study did include a large socio-economically diverse population of adults. And when reporting this, I also wondered if these results might be because people are often connecting with other people when doing these activities. So could these people just be healthier because they were more social? So Daniel Belsky, another epidemiologist I talked to who didn't work on the study, thought that could be a factor.

• 7:48Speaker 07

  People who report being socially isolated and lonely tend to exhibit a faster pace of aging than people who have richer social networks.

• 7:56Regina Barber?

  So Sasha, maybe call your friends or plan a date with your husband to go to the museum this weekend.

• 8:01Speaker 03

  He's not a big museum guy, but I'm going to tell him that Regina and Emily told us to go.

• 8:04Regina Barber?

  That's right. Science.

• 8:06Speaker 03

  Exactly. So your third one is about music, the band room, the marimba. Tell us about that one.

• 8:12Regina Barber?

  Yes. So Amartya Bhattacharya was in 9th grade high school band when he discovered the marimba.

• 8:18Speaker 07

  I remember going into my school's room and hearing this beautiful five-octave Yamaha Rosewood marimba for the first time.

• 8:28Speaker 07

  Its tone is so rich and beautiful, especially on the low register, that at that moment, I fell in love with the instrument for what it is.

• 8:38Regina Barber?

  The music you're hearing just now is the marimba. It looks kind of like a xylophone, though it's made of wooden bars. You play it by hitting those bars with mallets. And it comes with an enormous price tag. Prices range, but this five octave marimba costs $32,000, making it the most expensive instrument in Amartya's band room.

• 8:57Speaker 03

  What accounts for that price tag?

• 8:58Regina Barber?

  Yeah, the biggest reason is the material for the wooden bars, the Honduran rosewood. This wood is responsible for that gorgeous sound, but has a very slow growth cycle and is the target of overharvesting, illegal logging, resulting in a highly restricted trade. All this drives up the cost of the marimba.

• 9:17Speaker 03

  So I hope someone is looking into alternative materials so we can still hear the music without compromising all this wood.

• 9:23Regina Barber?

  Definitely, yes. Now, a rising second year at Northeastern University, Amartya developed a methodology for testing out 17 different woods, cutting them into bars and testing three properties in particular. So their density, stiffness, and sustain. The sustain is what allows those notes to ring out.

• 9:40Emily Kwong?

  So Amartya ran his test, and a lot of the alternative materials sounded terrible. Here's bamboo plywood.

• 9:49Emily Kwong?

  And here's a composite of wood and 3D-printed plastic. But then he had a breakthrough. Here's cherry wood.

• 9:59Emily Kwong?

  And the best one, hickory.

• 10:03Regina Barber?

  I like cherry better.

• 10:04Emily Kwong?

  Though hickory was the closest natural match to Honduran rosewood in terms of density, stiffness, and sustain, while being more affordable. Amartya presented these findings at the Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America this week. And mind you, this research was not peer reviewed.

• 10:20Speaker 03

  I really love that you did this research.

• 10:22Regina Barber?

  Yeah.

• 10:22Speaker 03

  So what could this mean for the band rooms of the future?

• 10:26Regina Barber?

  Yeah, Amartya considers this an exploratory study in terms of what materials are out there and what has potential.

• 10:32Speaker 07

  I don't think like the Boston Symphony Orchestra is going to take their Rosewood marimba and throw it out and replace it with a hickory one.

• 10:37Emily Kwong?

  But he does hope that this study could someday make the marimba more accessible for everyone, especially student musicians in low-income school districts.

• 10:44Regina Barber?

  So Sasha, are you going to be blasting some marimba music tonight in an effort to slow your aging?

• 10:51Speaker 03

  I mean, after hearing you play that instrument, I feel like I need to get to know it better.

• 10:54Regina Barber?

  It was good. I liked it.

• 10:56Emily Kwong?

  Yeah.

• 10:56Regina Barber?

  Sasha, thank you so much for coming on our show again and hanging out with us. Come back anytime.

• 11:01Emily Kwong?

  Yeah, we're going to lure you like a fish.

• 11:03Speaker 03

  I can't wait. Let's do it in person again next time.

• 11:05Regina Barber?

  And for more science stories just like these, follow Short Wave on the NPR app or wherever else you're listening from.

• 11:11Emily Kwong?

  The app is honestly very cute. Download it right now. The news may not always be cute, but Short Wave is great.

• 11:17Regina Barber?

  We're always cute.

• 11:17Emily Kwong?

  Yeah, we're really integrated with the app. You can use it to keep up with our show, but also to know what's going on in the world. Sign up for push notifications if you want to know when the latest Short Wave episode drops.

• 11:31Emily Kwong?

  This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson, Jordan Marie Smith, and Hannah Chin. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez and Christopher Intagliata.

• 11:39Regina Barber?

  Tyler Jones, check the facts. I'm Regina Barber.

• 11:41Emily Kwong?

  And I'm Emily Kwong. Thank you for listening to Short Wave, the science podcast from NPR.

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