In weird medical news, researchers have discovered that an extract made from shellfish reduces scarring after certain medical procedures. It’s a gel-like polysaccharide called chitosan, and it’s injected up the nose after sinus operations.
I don’t know what this means for my daily fix of squid goo — either my supply is about to be commodified, or the price is going to go up.
i guess your sinuses must be in fantastic condition, PZ.
My first thought when I read “commodified” was what I picture paranoid potheads doing when they get a knock on the door.
“It’s the cops, flush it down the commode!”
Maybe I should back off the squid snorting.
That’s the same stuff that’s being used in bandages to stop heavy bleeding ridiculously quickly, and there’s also some research suggesting that it’s antimicrobial. Oh, and it also gives whoever uses it perfect pitch as a side effect and brings world peace.
The squid goo supply is safe, though – chitosan is extracted from crustacean carapaces, leaving shelled shrimp behind. Can you say delicious?
When squid goo is outlawed, only outlaws will have squid goo! And squids, of course. :-)
Stockpiling squid
Would be fine, if that was all that you did.
Collecting seaweed, or tuna, or albatross, or virtually anything pelagic
Would not be tragic.
But since we should help others whenever we can
And we can limit post-operative bleeding with chitosan
Hoarding shellfish
Is selfish.
Will there be a twelve-step program for squid addiction?
The problem starts with a little cuttlefish on the weekends. Before you know it you are hiding mollusks in your locker at work.
I think chitosan is also used in biomedical engineering applications such as tissue regeneration as a sort of extra-cellular matrix for the cells to grow on.
I may have it mixed up with the other materials used for tissue engineering scaffolds (e.g. collagen), but I remember learning about it in some context in my biomedical nanotechnology class.
I use chitosan to knock down sediment when I make my home-made wine.
Squid must have an easy time snorting. Push it into the mantle cavity while waving the other arms as a distraction, then jet outta there.
Squid must have an easy time snorting. Push it into the mantle cavity while waving the other arms as a distraction, then jet outta there.
I saw a presentation for the bandages Corncob mentioned, and the results were pretty impressive, especially if you’re in the habit of slicing pig arteries. They covered up any shrimp smell with a ‘vinegary’ smell – I’m still afraid to bring my samples on the hiking trail with me.
I read that the beaks are a good source of chitin, so maybe we can all just share and get along like Mr. Rogers says.
If #5 doesn’t win Cuttlefish a Molly, nowt will…
If #5 doesn’t win Cuttlefish a Molly, nowt will…
We can try, but I don’t think he will be very keen. Uh, he’s already got one, you see.
Give him too many and you run the risk of–wait for it–mollycuttling him!
Ha! I kill me!
Groan….