Helix Aspersa Muller is a snail that has survived extreme environmental conditions for more than 600 million years. This land gastropod or mollusk has an original defensive mechanism in the form of an intricate glycol-conjugate secretion which helps the creature rapidly repair any harm to its skin.

The investigation of the potential uses of this secretion goes back some 15 years. A Chilean enterprise has performed research and created a biotechnology to collect the secretion. They do this by submitting the snails to regulated stress similar to what they have to respond to when a predator attacks them, or when they come into an atmosphere full of oxygen radicals after hibernating. This enterprise has also created a biotechnology to secure the bio-availability of the secretion deep inside the skin where it interacts with target cells to repair skin damage.

Natural Skin Treatment with Biological Ingredients

For many years, numerous scientists have analyzed snails and their secretions. The snails were considered simple creatures, allowing study and the modeling of biological functions thought to be more intricate in vertebrates. The scientists have found molecules in the snail secretion now being considered worthwhile candidates for the development of drugs, and natural skin care treatments.

Their discoveries have resulted in a new frontier in science named the "sweet science of glycobiology", a burgeoning branch that attempts to explain how sugars in the body -called glycans- contribute to human health and keep information needed to determine the complexity of life as that of DNA and proteins. It also sheds light onto the potential explanation of a more humble finding by layman people. The finding that manipulating snails while breeding them for their value as a gourmet delicacy, produced soft hands and scar free healing of minor injuries, cuts and scrapes.

The Natural Way to Healthy Skin

Also, it could explain the further realization that snails wounded by birds are able to repair some of their organs -eyes and mouth- by bubbling onto themselves what seems to be the same fluid mentioned above. The snails also use it to crawl more easily, stick onto something when on a vertical position defying gravity, to isolate themselves into their shell by the dry fluid on the opercula, or to persuade insects to stay away from them. This biological secretion is the one that has this fascinating, healing effect on human skin.

Two patents of invention for a process created to collect the fluid and its use in cosmetic or skin care products have been authorized. One to a Chilean doctor, in Chile in 1995, for a process to collect the fluids by submerging snails in warm water and then filtering the mucin, for the use of the secretion in a skin care product made with petrochemical and other chemical excipients. The second to a Spanish oncologist, in the USA in 1996, for a process whereby snails are stressed physically to promote the production of their mucin, and the use of it for the therapeutic and cosmetic treatment of skin, specially for radiodermatitis. There is also a patent granted in the US in 2000 for the use of an intricate glyco-molecule, isolated from the body and also present in the secretions of an African snail, as a drug to inhibit angiogenesis.

A safe and biological alternative to chemical skin care treatments is now available in the form of a skin care product to treat a wide range of skin conditions. The Bio Balm is a natural skin care balm that heals and moisturizes your skin.