Humble slug might maintain key to everlasting youth and miracle therapeutic, claims prime boffin
The humble slug may hold the secrets to eternal youth and miracle healing, a top boffin has claimed.
Christopher Terrell Nield reckons the much-hated garden critter could actually help to heal our wounds quicker, tackle deadly brain conditions and even reduce the ageing process if we harness its slime for new drugs.
Mr Nield, of Nottingham Trent Uni, said: “That slimy mucus has benefits for us too as it seems to speed up cell processes such as tissue regeneration and wound healing. It’s been developed as super-sticky adhesives (hydrogels) for use in surgery, and some scientists think it holds potential as a treatment of neurological disorders.”
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In the UK, there are about 40 slug species and experts reckon there are more out there to be discovered.
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Biosciences boffin Mr Nield added he wants the world to start loving the slippery creatures to that we can start to harness their potential and change human lifestyles for the better.
He told website The Conversation: “Slugs. They eat your lettuces, chew your cabbages, defoliate your dahlias and assassinate your asters.
“Even the name ‘slug’ is unpleasant. It comes from the Middle English ‘slugge’, from a Norwegian word for a heavy, slow-moving or sluggish person. Slugs clearly have a PR problem, so let’s try and put things right.”
A probe last winter by Italian boffins found gastropod slime can be used across multiple medical disciplines to make us look younger, regenerate our bodies quicker, fight superbugs and maintain youth.
The report, published on the US National Library of Medicine website, said: “Considering that it has been demonstrated that the components found within the slime appear able to expedite essential cellular processes, some potential applications in medical contexts, such as wound healing and tissue regeneration, can be also hypothesized.
“Furthermore, the presence of antimicrobial peptides and proteins within the slime opens avenues for novel antimicrobial agents, particularly relevant in the current era of escalating antibiotic resistance. The cosmetic and skincare industry has also seized upon the potential benefits of gastropod slime.
(Image: Getty Images/Zoonar RF)
“Compounds like hyaluronic acid and glycoproteins found in the slime are believed to have moisturising and skin-smoothing effects, resulting in the integration of slime extracts into various beauty products.”
It comes after gardening guru Alan Titchmarsh vowed to never be pals with the bugs following the Daily Star’s Hug-A-Slug campaign.
The green-fingered telly star said in April he’s happy to mouth off about the critters which he branded “pests”.
Alan, 75, fumed: “Slugs are never going to be my friends, whatever anybody says.” He added: “If you’ve got a hosta collection, the last thing you want to do is to make a home for slugs.
“You’ve got to allow for a little bit of nibbling and you want to be a good cultivator of plants that can shrug off a bit of an attack. But that’s a far cry from saying, ‘Oh, we love slugs, let’s welcome them into the garden’. “I’m sorry, I don’t welcome slugs.”
His tirade was at odds with the Royal Horticultural Society which reclassified slugs and snails in 2022 as “garden visitors” to help shed their bad image.
