Sunscreen Lotion OUT = Sunblock Pill IN (Thanks to Coral Reefs!)

Corals are fascinating organisms. When I traveled to Australia and went scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef- this was one of my favorite pictures of the corals and fish that I captured. It was sooo gorgeous there and full of life.

So leading up to my topic of today: Corals and a sunblock pill!

I can definitely concur that sunscreen lotion is a pain in the butt to put on every couple of hours, when all you want to do is relax, and smell nice, not like a sunscreen ad. Plus you feel all greasy and gross, then when you jump into the water- it all washes off and you have to start the whole process over again!

Well research scientists may have found the jackpot to get rid of those lotions and replace it with a PILL- yes I said it, a little old pill. Corals produce a natural compound that protects their bodies from harmful UV rays from the sun (if only we could do that..). The scientists could manufacture this product for public use within 5 years! That would be pretty amazing to see happen for sure. I’d just hope that no corals have to die because of it…then I wouldn’t be happy.

Coral UV Protection Background: Corals have a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic (needs sunshine to live) algae that lives within their skeleton. This algae produces a UV protection chemical that gets transported throughout the coral. Researchers have found that this protection passes on to the fish that feed upon the coral – so it’s transferred biologically throughout the food chain. Scientists figured out from this information that we could biosynthetically develop the chemical in the lab to make a pill for humans to consume from the sun’s harsh UV rays ( YEAH NO KILLING LOTS OF INNOCENT CORALS :D)

Check out the video from King’s College of London whose researchers are the ones who discovered this:

Well I guess this isn’t the first time that there was ever such an idea of a sunscreen pill.. there are a couple you can actually buy in grocery stores. But they are poorly researched, and not very effective. So don’t use those because you still have to put sunscreen on anyways…what’s the point in taking the pill right?

So maybe in 5 years or so..we’ll be giving our family, friends, and children a little pill to protect our bodies from the inside out from that harsh sunshine. PROTECT YOUR SKIN PEOPLE! And give a BIG thank you to the coral reefs, instead of continuing to destroy them.