interesting reaserch on solagran, page-6

Again, an example - it is innovative and being accepted and marketed by many micro biotechs. SLA is no orphan - not by a long shot. Safety is vital. The poly process is of interest.

A Tasmanian company is using seaweed to develop an alternative to the pharmaceutical drug Heparin.

Trials using seaweed harvested from Tasmanian waters to prevent blood clots have been positive.

The biotechnology company, Marinova, has been researching the pharmaceutical properties of seaweed for the past 20 years.

It has found that molecules in the undaria seaweed, which is an introduced pest in Tasmania, has similar properties to Heparin in preventing blood clots.

Researcher, Dr Helen Fitton, says tests have been positive.

"Several people took some capsules which contained this substance and then we looked at their blood and found out how long it took to clot," she said.

Dr Fitton says the seaweed product would be a better alternative than Heparin, which is made from cow lung or pig intestine.

"I think there is a growing market from vegetable derived rather than animal products, it's a good deal safer," she said.

"And what's great is that if it's eventually used as an alternative to Heparin from the first point of view we can track it which has been a recent problem with Heparin, it hasn't been tracked to source and secondly it's from seaweed, it's nice and benign, there's no possibility of viruses coming through."

Dr Fitton says there is a growing market for people who want to use completely natural rather than synthetic products.

The company is presenting its research at an international biotechnology conference in San Diego.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/17/2277169.htm

http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/stories/s2309936.htm