Coral concept a cracker
SUNSCREEN that mimics coral’s natural sun protection, could soon be on the market thanks to the smart thinking of Townsville businesswoman Larissa Bright.
Mrs Bright has already put her name to a successful natural skin care range but she has gone a step further to find a preventive to sun damaged skin.
“It was an AIMS scientists who originally told me about coral’s ability to make its own sunscreen,” she said.
Now, her entrepreneurial company Coral Sunscreen works alongside top CSIRO biomedical scientists in the hope they can create a world first UV filter that mimics coral’s natural sun protection mechanism.
“We have the highest inci- dence of UV damage in the world and we have these animals right here on our reef that are able to protect themselves, so we are hoping we can harness that,” Ms Bright said. “We are in the commercialisation phase … which is exciting for us.
“It has got four global patents pending around the world at the moment and in June we are exhibiting our innovation at the London Sun Protection conference.
“I am spending all my time on the scientific work at the moment – I am so passionate about using non- toxic products.”
The research has been recognised as important work and has received both Federal and State government funding grants to continue.