Our Celebrity:
The Snail Of The Species Helix Aspersa Müller

Helix Aspersa Müller is the name of the snail species also known as the humble garden snail with a brown striped shell, a gastropod also classified by zoologists as Cryptomphalus aspersa . It lives in Mediterranean areas of the world that are blessed with a combination of soil and weather conditions similar to those prevalent in the State of California.

A conspicuous property of the gastropod integument is its facility to produce abundant amounts of mucous (a protein sugary fluid).

Snails use their fluids as a protective layer, for lubrication and for many other biological functions. A snail can actually glide over the sharp edge of a knife or razor without harming itself thanks to the mucus it produces . Copious mucus secretion can deter attacks of predators. It is also essential for locomotion.

Land snails leave their secretion behind them when they crawl and we can see them as silvery paths – also referred to as “snail slime” or “snail goo” or trail mucus. It is used by snails to adhere to the substratum as the mucus dries as a hard film for a long term adhesion when they are inactive, even in vertical positions (the secretion is said to behave as a non-newtonian fluid: a fluid in which the viscosity changes with the applied strain rate.)

Snails secrete their "goo" to close the aperture of their shell when they go inside to sleep or hibernate. And they bubble mucus to fight oxidation when they come out of hibernation or rest into an atmosphere full of oxygen. The secretion also has antimicrobial properties that allow the snail to protect itself from microbes always ready to proliferate on moist or damaged skin. Snails never suffer from skin infections.

The shell of terrestrial snails has two distinct layers: the thick, inner ostracum made mostly of calcium carbonate, and the outer periostracum, which is of protein nature, hardening (horny) and transparent. Growing juveniles build first the organic periostracum and then deposit the ostracum. Damages to the newly built, soft periostracum can be repaired by juvenile snails within 2–3 weeks, and damage to the adult shell can be repaired in about 6 weeks. Damage to the skin triggers abundant secretion of the mucin and is repaired quickly.

Mollusks are well known for being able to replace various body parts: the eyes, tentacles, penis and siphon and regions of the foot, mantle and shell can all be regenerated to some degree by most mollusks. Gastropod mollusks have been good subjects for the investigation of regeneration following injury to the nervous system. They grow new tentacles with associated tentacle ganglia, selectively re-innervate peripheral targets, repair central connections and may even replace lost neurons and ganglia.

Biochemical analysis of the snail mucous, we collect, shows it contains complex glycoconjugate molecules made mainly of sulfated sugar or carbohydrate chains (sugar= glyco), globular soluble proteins , uronic acids and oligoelements ( copper, zinc, calcium and iron ).

The major organic (i.e. carbon-containing) components of human cells are proteins, lipids, various carbohydrates and carbohydrate-containing molecules, and the nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). The carbohydrate-containing molecules can be quite complex; those in which carbohydrates are attached to proteins or lipids are called glycoconjugates. There are three major classes of glycoconjugates: glycoproteins, proteoglycans, and glycolipids.

Glyco means "sweet" and refers to monosaccharides, or sugars. The role of carbohydrates (sugars) in energy production has been long understood. However, their additional, crucial role in orchestrating the healthy structure and function of the body is a relatively new discovery that is the subject of a new bourgeoning field of science called the “ sweet science of glycobiology ”.

The snail mucous is secreted by granules in the body of the snail and is composed mainly of water (96.5%), electrolytes, mucuos glycoconjugates (3%) comprising glycoproteins, proteoglycans (core proteins covalently attached to glycosaminoglycan chains), lectins and hemocyanin. The dry weight of the material is mostly accounted for by glucosamine, L-iduronic acid, acetyl and sulfate groups.

The proteoglycans, glycosaminoglycans and glycoproteins in the snail mucous are highly soluble in aqueous solutions and function as glyconutrients, enzymes and signals to cells , in the skin, that both protect the skin from damage and contribute to, or trigger, an orderly or orchestrated repair of injured skin.

We have determined the amount of protein in dry mucus to be ~25% based on protein assay. The uronic acid corresponds to ~72% as determined by uronic acid assay using a standard curve prepared with purified glycosaminoglycans. These results demonstrate that the mucus is composed primarily of globular proteins and strongly acidic glycosaminoglycans . The latter was confirmed by chromatography.

Glycobiology sheds light on effects of snail secretion on human skin

This relatively new branch in science, which attempts to understand how sugars in the body -called glycans- contribute to human health and contain information as necessary to define the complexity of life as that of DNA and proteins, sheds light onto the following observations:

1.- the snail mucous yields “soft hands and quick scar free healing of injuries, cuts and scrapes” on otherwise rough hands of workers manipulating snails, while breeding them for their value as a gourmet delicacy,

2.- snails secrete mucous when exposed to ionizing radiation (X ray and gamma radiation) and it protects them from degenerative effects .

Both observations led to the invention of processes to collect the snail mucous and include it in products for skin care and skin therapy.

Helix Aspersa Müller Concentrate is collected pure, without solvents. It is homogenized and stabilized to protect it from degrading and hydrolisis. Also embedded in a liposome for a better absorption deep within the skin.

Hydrolysis: a chemical reaction in which water reacts with a compound to produce other compounds; involves the splitting of a bond and the addition of the hydrogen cation and the hydroxide anion from the water.

We can assure you the snail secretions in this natural skin care cream are NOT degraded, neither by interaction with chemicals nor by immediate hydrolysis (decomposition of a chemical compound by reaction with water usually resulting in the formation of one or more new compounds that do not have the same properties of the original substance).

BIOSKINCARE ™ uses a technology that embeds the biological ingredient in a liposome, a microscopic, fluid-filled pouch whose walls are made of layers of phospholipids identical to the phospholipids that make up cell membranes. Liposomes are used to deliver certain vaccines, enzymes, or drugs (e.g., insulin and some cancer drugs) to the body. Liposomes attach to cellular membranes and appear to fuse with them, releasing their contents into the cell . Sometimes they are taken up by the cell, and their phospholipids are incorporated into the cell membrane while the ingredient (glycoprotein enzyme) trapped inside is released.

Helix Aspersa Müller Concentrate is a viscose substance gathered from live snails. It is a complex compound of powerful biological proteoglycans , glycosaminoglycans , protein enzymes , copper peptides & antimicrobial peptides. The compound acts as a biological activator of both the elimination of dead and damaged skin cells and the renewal of healthy cells. It is also antimicrobial.

BIOSKINCARE™ has been formulated to transform a liquid with cell-communicating ingredients and biological activators of skin renewal into a cream that also moisturizes, replenishes and stabilizes the lipid content within the intercellular skin matrix by using all natural emollients, emulsifiers, surfactants and nourishing extracts derived from Olive Oil , hydrating Hyaluronic acid, and humectant Glycerin.

Also the preservative system we use to protect the cream from bacteria, yeasts and moulds, is a self sterilizing skin-friendly pH-stable system that combines a widely used, globally-accepted preservative (including Japan), phenoxyethanol, with a proven preservative-enhancer, ethylhexylglycerin, instead of controversial parabens.

The cream is made in the USA in a cosmetic laboratory that uses a superior natural cosmetics technology, based on Helix Aspersa Müller Concentrate collected in Chile.