An extraordinary collision of marine biology and medical innovation recently transformed Jervis Bay into a global hub for skin health. Project NICE (National Integrated Care for Epithelia) brought together diverse experts—from bioengineers to First Nations custodians—to unlock the secrets of a brand new molecule found right here in Jervis Bay waters with the potential to heal and protect the human body.
The ‘dark matter’ of biology
At the heart of this one-day gathering, instigated by world renowned local Dr Pia Winberg, is SXRG84, a complex seaweed “goo” that scientists are calling the “dark matter” of biology for its untapped potential for skin care and medical treatments of skin-related disease and injury.
“This is a brand-new molecule in the world,” says Pia, chief scientist and director of Venus Shell Systems and its consumer brand, PhycoHealth, who grows, harvests and processes the seaweed that contains the new molecule, SXRG84.
For this ground breaking conference, Pia brought together experts from science, frontline health care, marine biology and aquaculture, First Nations traditional custodians and people from commercial and finance backgrounds, who are all working on skin-related projects using extracts from SXRG84.
Pia’s aim was to join the dots between all of these people, enabling them to share their individual projects, findings, challenges and ambitions with this seaweed extract as it applies to skin of all kinds.
“I was having parallel conversations with different university researchers and it felt like each of them was starting to reinvent the wheel,” Dr Pia Winberg said. “We’ve got a brand-new molecule that we have to start from scratch here. We’re all heading for different applications and uses of the molecule, so let’s get them all to learn and share their knowledge, because the powerhouse of their combined expertise would add so much breadth to the understanding of this molecule.”
The goo—previously dismissed by scientists—is actually far more complex than DNA and contains many as-yet-unidentified functions.
Pia says, “Like the dark matter of the universe, we know it’s there, we know it’s important, but we don’t know exactly what it looks like, we can’t characterise it fully. We need many different scientists with different skillsets to deduct which part of the molecule is doing what.”
In her opening remarks on the day, Pia told the room, “It’s in our hands, from the molecular level to the finished product,” to prove what can be done with this extract and generate the next level of investment and commitment to the seaweed technology.
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The Significance of Skin
The skin is the largest organ of the body and its complex systems do a lot more than simply hold our insides together into one package. Skin care is a US$160 billion dollar market. We wash it, exfoliate it, slather it in creams and lotions to protect it and nurture it.
But skin can also experience trauma from insect bites, infection, scratches, scrapes and burns. Accidents on healthy skin may trigger the body’s natural healing abilities, but compromised skin on an otherwise compromised person can be a different kettle of fish.
Conditions such as impetigo, a skin infection that is prevalent in First Nations communities, severe mucositis (painful inflammation of the mucous membrane in the digestive tract) that can occur in patients receiving cancer treatment, and persistent “impaired wounds” that have confounded clinicians and carers, may have solutions for treatment and even prevention in the very near future, thanks to SXRG84.
According to Pia, it’s the skin care industry, those creams and lotions, that could be the gateway to speeding up advancements in the medical field.
Pia’s belief—also articulated by several speakers at the Project NICE event—is that a product on the shelf is one of the best ways to prove what can be done with her seaweed extract plus engage the public in a way that is directly relevant to their daily lives.
Getting product on the shelf, from seaweed-infused corn chips and pasta through to skin care, has been Pia’s mission for more than a decade now, even setting up market stalls and expo stands across the state to put seaweed products into people’s hands.
“I know there’s high tech behind it, but let’s just get the corn chips out there,” she said to the room, emphasising the speed-to-market ethos combined with the bigger impacts that has on the science. “Why hold back? That’s always been my focus, we need to prove we can do things with this product and get to market.”
From Jervis Bay to the Global Market
Daniel Abrahams, CEO of Marine Bioproducts Cooperative Research Centre, was at the Project NICE conference. He heads a national program, funded for 10 years from 2021, with $270 million to invest in and nurture the next generation of environmentally responsible resources and products from the marine environment.
The MB CRC is also a proponent of collaboration—another big theme that emerged at Project NICE, with many of the speakers emphasising the importance of gathering the best people with the right skills and expertise into every project.
Pia said: “We’re talking with Daniel about how we can accelerate the exciting things we are seeing and hearing [at Project NICE], and partner with shellfish farmers and other people to make marine ingredients, something that NSW and the Shoalhaven can be really proud to be leaders in nationally and globally.”
Daniel said: “We want to commercialise and create industry. What fascinates me about Pia is she gets to product very quickly and that’s what we’re trying to do. And obviously we’ve got to fund a range of PhDs as well as grow our internal capabilities so we can actually be part of the bioprocessing, biomanufacturing, biorefining future.”
Jervis Bay is the New Seaweed Science Frontier
For Pia, the best outcome from the Project NICE workshop day was the instant collegial relationships formed between a roomful of people who had mostly met that morning. “I was hopeful that each person would learn something and be a little bit open to sharing and talking to each other, but I was overwhelmed with how extreme the bonding was. They were like magnets sucking up the information from each other and learning about how their research is relevant to the others,” Pia said.
“It was contagious because then the finance and government people, the manufacturers and the packaging people, everyone started to understand the big picture concept around this molecule. We painted a big picture of this opportunity, not just the science.”
At dinner that evening at the Gunyah Restaurant at Paperbark Camp, the long tables were humming with conversation among colleagues who had become friends in one day – a testament to the collegial environment that Pia and her team had created in the conference room.
New projects for medical applications sprang almost immediately out of the conference, too. Pia said, a week after the event, “just yesterday, we submitted a new grant application to the government for bio-batteries, that’s wound-healing conductive bandages with our molecule. We’ve submitted that with another research group at the University of Wollongong. These are new angles that we had only talked about and now we’ve articulated and written grant applications.”
Honours
Dr Pia Winberg was honoured with the Hall of Fame award at last year’s MB CRC conference, for a lifetime contribution to advancing marine bioproducts and inspiring the next generation of innovators.
Highlights from the Science (as interpreted by this journalist)
Two gems of Jervis Bay in Woollamia, the nature retreats Bay & Bush and Paperbark Camp hosted the scientists working on SXRG84.
Dist. Prof. Gordon Wallace, University of Wollongong
Wound Healing Research: Gordon has worked at the cutting edge of health technology, making advancements in biofabrication, 3D printing and medical devices that complement the body’s own ability to heal itself. Gordon pointed out that ulvan (SXRG84) is one of the most important biomaterials obtained from the extraction process of Australian seaweed species 84.
Gordon presented the potential applications of the molecule SXRG84 in wound healing dressings, 3D bioprinting, as an antimicrobial coating and as a tissue engineering scaffold for treating severe burns.
Ass. Prof. Zhilian Yue , University of Wollongong
Wound Healing and SXRG84: Zhilian is at the pointy end of using seaweed extracts to engineer and fabricate biomaterial coatings for advanced wound care, to stimulate tissue repair while preventing further complications in serious wounds. Her research includes formulating bioinks that can be 3D printed onto engineered skin-like structures before being applied to wounds like a dressing.
Dr Wendy Cun, University of Wollongong
SXRG84 Fabrication and Delivery for Wound Healing: Wendy is working on a spray-on formulation, in conjunction with the MB CRC, that has the potential to improve the outcomes for severe burn patients – severe burns cause more than 180,000 deaths worldwide per year. This formulation has incredible stickiness on the skin, an important factor when treating large areas or irregular surfaces that have been difficult to develop dressings to suit.
Wendy says: “Impaired wounds are not just slow healing injuries, they are actually biologicallydysregulated systems… there is an urgent need for us to develop a multifunctional wound dressing that can combine antimicrobial properties, biocompatibilities and ease of application, which forms the aim of this project.”
Wendy’s project is also working with the spray-on skin formulation developed by burns specialist, Dr Fiona Woods.
Prof. Kate White & Dr Bora Kim, Sydney University
Cancer Care Research Unit: Kate and Bora spoke about the condition of severe mucositis that is experienced by many cancer patients while receiving treatment. They have been working with Pia to formulate a product based on SXRG84 that will help to reduce the severity of the condition, which can inflame and ulcerate a person’s entire gastro-intestinal tract including the mouth and throat. Read more about the incredible work of these frontline clinicians.
PhD Candidate Charlie Guo
SXRG84 Composition and Structure: Charlie is continuing the work of analysing the molecule and its fractions, the different components of the molecule, to discover their unique properties and functions. He is working with Prof. Nicki Packer as his supervisor on this PhD project, which aims to find out the actual properties of the extracted polysaccharide. These are characteristics such as size distribution, manipulation of solubility, viscosity, sulphation, polysaccharide branching, monosaccharide ratios, amino acid contents, and physical properties such as gelation and elasticity. This was a highly technical presentation that was well received by the scientists in the room.
Dist. Prof. Nicki Packer, Macquarie University
Functional Prospects of Seaweed Polysaccharides: Nicki presented the molecule as a potential inhibitor of viral and bacterial infection. The premise is, can the seaweed extract mimic the ability of mucus such as saliva to help prevent infections? Can we affect the pathogen-host interaction?
Nicki says, “The question that we’re asking is, can polysaccharides interfere with infection and could they be a potential antimicrobial rather than antibiotics? We’re not talking the immune system now, we’re not talking about antibodies, we’re actually talking about more like innate immunity, the things we have in our body that actually protect us from infection.”
James Brown, Managing Director Acquaculture Innovation, WA and NSW
Seashells and skin: Marine scientist and oyster farmer, James was part of the core team that developed the Lanje skin care brand in under a year. He presented on the challenges of the oyster farming industry, at his company’s farms in both Western Australia and NSW where they produce pearls. The scientists were particularly interested in one of James’ oyster species that produces a large quantity of mucus to cover itself as soon as it’s removed from the water. Prof. Nicki Packer asked for a spoonful. “I’ll give you a bucketful,” offered James.
That same oyster has an incredible anti-fouling mechanism, James said. Nothing grows on them and when harvested their shells are completely clean. Read More about the Lanje Project.
Rosanna Angus, Bardi and Jawi Traditional Owner Western Australia
Aboriginal Community and Skin Health: Rosanna is part of the core team that developed the Lanje brand, as a traditional custodian she brought her cultural knowledge of botanicals to the project. Her background in health care combined with being part of a remote Aboriginal community in WA’s Kimberley region, Rosanna spoke about what drew her into this project and the broader impacts for her community. Read More about the Lanje Project.
Dr Esther Callcott, Charles Sturt University
First Nations Clinical Work: Esther is currently working on a project that will turn a chronic health situation among First Nations communities on its head. She is tackling the widespread skin infection called impetigo, proposing to design and run a research program within Aboriginal communities. Read More about Esther’s Project.
A/Prof Brooke Farrugia, University of Melbourne
Harnessing Seaweed Polysaccharides for Skin Repair: Brooke, a chemical engineer and a biomedical engineer, joined the event online, and gave a highly technical presentation. Brooke explained: “Not just in wound healing but in many other biological processes or different tissue engineering applications, from a fundamental level, a lot of them are driven or controlled in the body is using growth factors. I look at things from, how does our body do things and can we then mimic what they’re doing? In our body, growth factors are produced by pretty much every type of cell but what does our body do to really protect, deliver and signal these growth factors?”
Daniel Abrahams, CEO of the MB CRC (Marine Bioproducts Cooperative Research Centre)
Next Steps for NICE: Daniel heads up a cooperative research centre that has 10 years to invest $270m in delivering Australian-made marine bioproducts to global markets. His attendance at the workshop day signals the importance of the scientists and the science that was on the agenda that day, and into the future. Daniel was the instigator of the Lanje skin care brand project by bringing together the core team and propelling them into delivery at speed.
Wrapping up the day’s presentations, Daniel said: “The project ideas you’ve given me are just blowing my mind.” He says of the MB CRC: “We’re so committed now to looking at the research angle. So much respect for research. And I think if there’s a way for me to add value, it’s to bridge the gap between research and commerce, science and commerce, because I think there’s a communication void there.”
Project NICE was a perfect example of how that can work.
