• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 12 / 11 / 2010

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A non-stick substance that covers the starfish could be key for the potential treatment of inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, asthma and hay fever, British scientists announced.

These invertebrates are constantly bathed in a viscous fluid containing virus, larvae, bacteria and other organisms, but an efficient non-stick system prevents them from sticking.

The key to this mechanism could be used to create drugs that prevent diseases caused when white blood cells instead of flowing through the blood vessels attach to the walls of the arteries.

The study of the starfish as a source of medical therapies is developed by researchers at the biotechnology company Glycomed in Scotland.

Experts at King s College, London also think that the spiny starfish could provide the solution to anti-inflammatory diseases and are investigating the viscous substance that protects it.

This compound is much more efficient than the Teflon (a polymer similar to polyethylene) which hardens on contact with water.

Prensa Latina Translation Staff