Team:Manchester/Implementation
Implementation of HippoSol
Our Product: We are attempting to design and integrate our own pathway for the production of Hipposudoric Acid in E. coli bacteria. This will be implemented as HippoSol, a novel sunscreen product, in which Hipposudoric Acid will act as a novel UV filter to reduce the oxidative stress experienced by corals minimising bleaching events.
Figure created by Madeleine Webster-Harris in Gravit.com
Our route towards Implementations of our Product
Develop a range of different HippoSol formulations based on Hipposudoric Acid:
- Formulation A - HippoSol Basic: Hipposudoric Acid is stabilized in an alkaline based formulation. This formulation will contain other skin-safe compounds such as vitamins and hydrating compounds producing a complete sunscreen product.
- Formulation B - HippoSol Shade Range: Complete sunscreen product with added pigments to create a diverse range of shades, doubling as both a foundation/colour corrector and a sunscreen.
- Formulation C - HippoSol Tanning: Stabilise Hipposudoric Acid in an alkaline-based tanning formulation. This will result in a spray tan product that has additional benefits of protecting against UV preventing burning or carcinogenesis.
- Forumation D - DIY HippoSol: Produce Hipposudoric Acid and incorporate into a powder to be sold as DIY sunscreens. This option would require further design to figure out how to stabilise the acid in a powder form.
Identify the best strategic route to commercialising our product:
- Strategy A: Sell the right to use our technology to other sunscreen companies; this a safe way to ensure profit and minimises the planning steps we have to conduct ourselves.
- Strategy B: Strategic alliance; provide development services for current existing sunscreen companies and form a subsection within their business producing novel sunscreens for them. This model is called business to business sale, and is based on the example set by Ginkgo Bioworks.
- Strategy C: Develop a company which produces HippoSol and then sell the company ownership to interested parties.
We have constructed a complete business plan to implement our project efficiently, bring solutions to consumers and engage investors effectively. If you want to know more about our project implementation please see our business plan.
We will isolate Hipposudoric Acid from E. coli. The EU legislation defines GMOs as “an organism in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating or natural recombination” (1). Under this classification our transformed E.coli bacterial cells would qualify as a GMO. The legislation says that any food product derived from a GMO must be authorised on the basis of a detailed assessment of the risks to health and the environment (1). Although, our final UV filter will not be ingested, sunscreen compounds can be absorbed into the skin and therefore these same assessments will be used on our product in the future to ensure its safety.
Proposed Users
- Everyday individuals who use sunscreen including families.
- Potential for our project to be more popular among younger groups due to a rise in environmental awareness in younger individuals (2).
- Individuals who engage with water sport or live in countries with high UV may use our project more frequently than other consumer groups.
- If we follow the business to business model then proposed users of HippoSol would be current sunscreen companies.
- Researchers that would want to develop other useful compounds out of Hipposudoric Acid, or aim to modify our bacterial systems for other synthetic purposes.
Please see our value proposition to find out more.
Hipposudoric Acid
The story of the hippopotamus is undeniably striking, in comparison naked mole rats who hide underground in the dark to escape UV radiation, Hippopotami have to face the sun head on. These huge naked animals are able to withstand high UV exposure throughout the day due to the mucus secretions in their skin. Hippos secrete fluid from their subdermal glands, containing a red pigment called Hipposudoric Acid (3).
Hipposudoric Acid is our compound of choice to be a novel UV filter to reinvent sunscreens. We chose Hipposudoric Acid because it tackles consumer and environmental concerns about sunscreen.
- Hipposudoric Acid has a broad UV protective range of 200 - 600nm, meaning it classifies as a broad spectrum SPF compound (3). This means it provides protection from UVA and UVB radiation. This protects the skin from deep skin carcinogenesis and photoaging. This also satisfies the market requirement for sunscreens, according to the FDA a sunscreen active ingredient has a UV range of 290-400nm (4).
- Hipposudoric Acid has antibiotic activity and inhibits the growth of pathogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae (3). This could help reduce the risk of infection when the skin is cut, for example when playing on rocks at the beach. This results in a highly effective sunscreen with protective capabilities beyond that of current conventional sunscreen.
- Isolated Hipposudoric Acid is unstable and acidic. In the mucus secretion the pigment can exist in its anionic form because the secretion is alkaline and its charge is delocalised by resonance (3). This is the environment our sunscreen would have to replicate. This is not a focus of our project this year; currently we are only trying to produce and characterise Hipposudoric Acid in E.coli.
- Hipposudoric Acid will be consumer friendly. The mucus secretion is mammal derived suggesting it could be safe for human skin.
- Hipposudoric Acid may be gentle to “problem skin”. We have noticed that people with problematic skin struggle to find sunscreens that don’t cause them to break out due to the harsh chemicals within the formulation. Research has found that common allergenic UV filters were still present in sunscreen products designed for people with problematic skin and labelled as “sensitive” (5). When stabilized in an alkaline solution Hipposudoric Acid may be kinder to these types of skin due to its organic origin.
- Hipposudoric Acid is currently present in the natural aqueous environment. Hippopotami live in freshwater, and the acid would be released into the ocean via rivers where it could interact with corals. This suggests it is safe for reefs. Hipposudoric Acid also polymerises into brown inactive solids; this will prevent it from inducing oxidative stress on corals (4). We also recognise that the natural concentration of Hipposudoric Acid in salt-water would be very low as it is diluted over time therefore, we also have plans to monitor coral activity in increasingly high concentrations of Hipposudoric Acid.
It is our goal to create a reef-safe and skin-safe sunscreen and natural, mammal-derived compound fits this role. Microbial synthesis is a good vessel for sustainable product production.
Due to restricted access to laboratories this year, we will test these hypotheses in phase 2 of our project.
Safety Considerations
- Skin safe: does not cause reactions, irritations or damage to the skin or its microflora.
- Reef-safe: does not cause damage or contribute to coral bleaching.
- Marine safe: does not damage, or reduce the ability of any organisms in the marine environment to survive, this includes macro and micro organisms.
- Non-toxic: must not cause adverse effects in the body when used or ingested.
- Our product is classified as “contained use”, this means modified genes are not released into the environment and domesticated strains of E.coli will be used for production to prevent gene exchange of pathogenicity factors. This also minimises environmental interaction with our produced GMO.
