New Cream Protects Against Jellyfish Sting

T Z E M A C H, Israel, Aug. 21, 2000 -- Israeli scientists haveseized on the secrets of the tiny orange Clown fish to produce alotion they say fends off the nemesis of swimmers everywhere —the sting of the jellyfish.

A cream developed by marine biologist Amit Lotan and his wife Tamar, amolecular scientist, mimics the defensive secretionsof the Clown, a fish that lives without being stung in thewavering tentacles of the sea anemone, a type of jellyfish.

Utilizing expertise garnered from more than a decade spentanalyzing the sea creatures, 40-year-old Lotan has developedactive compounds similar to those produced by the Clown fish.

“This is really a breakthrough. Most creams give reliefafter someone is stung, but this is the first that actuallyprevents the sting in the first place,” Lotan said in hislaboratory on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

After coating his hand in the lotion, he placed it in a tankof the white parasol-shaped jellyfish that are most prevalent inthe Mediterranean Sea. The creatures remained indifferent to hisprods and pulls.

A Complicated Sting

The compounds inhibit the painful and even fatal stingingmechanism that can inflict lacerating welts and burning blotcheson its victims.

Jellyfish have in many respects remained remarkably simpleorganisms in more than 700 million years of evolution. They lackmuscles, bones and the ability to hear and see but their complexstings, one of the fastest mechanisms in nature, have defiedscientists.

Two years ago, Lotan founded the Nidaria company with an oldschool friend Chen Porat to produce and market the patentedinvention.

About half a million dollars, most of it from the Israeligovernment, has been spent developing the cream that hit theU.S. and Israeli markets earlier this year under the Skin Guardbrand and their own “SafeSea” name.

“The response has been very encouraging. We have beencontacted by people from fishermen in Alaska to swimmers inFlorida,” Porat said.

Nidaria is now negotiating with sunscreen manufacturersaround the world, including Coppertone and Hawaiian Tropic in theUnited States and Boots chemists in England to manufacture theirproducts jointly in a one-stop beach cream.

“Our long-term aim is that people will one day automaticallytake sunscreen with an anti-jellyfish component when they go tothe beach,” Porat said.

Worldwide Problem

An estimated 130 million people head every year for watersinfested with more than 300 species of jellyfish.

They range from the delicate but fatal Australian sea waspthat can kill in seconds to the Tiffany-lamp Pelagia jellyfishthat can inflict an excruciating burn with one swipe of itstrailing tentacles.

The most severe concentrations are in Florida, theCaribbean, the Far East and the Mediterranean where millions ofthe sea creatures can swarm in a normal summer.

Lotan and Porat have tested their product on about 10 of themost common species, but say they have yet to carry out clinicalexperiments on the boxfish and Portuguese man-of-war or bluebottle, which can be fatal.

Nonetheless, they believe their product will be effectiveagainst all jellyfish.

Inventors Are Optimistic

“The product works according to the stinging cell mechanismthat is similar in all jellyfish, not according to the differentvarieties. It should work against all types,” Lotan said.

The creatures are covered in hundreds of thousands ofstinging cells that explode when they brush against an animal,releasing barbed stingers that propel into the victim and injectparalyzing poison through long narrow tubes.

As tests on more species of jellyfish continue in Israel, in conjunction with the U.S. navy, Porat is predicting that thesea may be the only limit for the repellent.

“This is a worldwide problem affecting millions of people.While it is a bit premature to say, we believe that within thenext five years, it will be a presence in all major beachesaround the world.”