Gel Matter is creating sustainable, synthetic mucus materials that mimic the structures and properties of animal mucus. The commercial demand for animal-harvested mucus is diverse and targets applications in dermatology, filtration systems, eyecare, antimicrobial coatings, drug delivery, and tissue culture. Gel Matter’s technology eliminates animal use and addresses global demand.
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Ilse Nava-Medina
Ilse Nava-Medina is a co-founder of Gel Matter and a research associate at the Advanced Science Research Center at City University of New York. Nava-Medina's postdoctoral research on synthetic mucus inspired her to found Gel Matter, whose mission is to commercialize sustainable synthetic mucus hydrogels. Nava-Medina holds a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering and a B.S. in chemistry.
TECHNOLOGY
Critical Need
Mucus secreted by snails, in liquid form, is increasingly used for skincare products due to its hydrating and anti-aging properties. Snail-derived beauty products reported annual sales of $3.5B billion in 2019, a number that’s projected to grow to $11.0 billion within the decade. However, the only commercial source for snail mucus is live animal harvest, and this method is expensive, non-vegan, and unable to meet growing demand sustainably. Further, harvested mucus—an impure mixture of proteins, ions, and genetic materials—has high batch-to-batch variability, a short shelf life, and unknown composition, and is prone to parasitic contamination that could ultimately sicken consumers.
Technology Vision
Gel Matter’s technology provides a platform to produce pure, scalable, cheap, and cruelty-free substitutes for animal-derived mucus. Using modular chemistry, Gel Matter has developed synthetic mucus in pure powder form, at the gram scale, that does not rely on the use of animals. Additionally, because of the modular synthetic process, the composition and properties of Gel Matter’s materials can be easily modified to target different markets, including lubricants, adhesives, and protective and semi-permeable barriers.
Potential for Impact
The commercial applications of synthetic mucus include skincare, semi-permeable barriers and filtration systems, ocular lubrication, drug delivery, antimicrobial adhesive coatings, and more. Initially, Gel Matter aims to provide ingredients for skincare formulations directly to cosmetic manufacturers. Gel Matter’s synthetic approach allows tunability of the material’s properties, and as the company grows, this tunability will become essential for leveraging mucus in markets beyond the skincare industry. Gel Matter’s technology can enable new markets for mucus, providing non-toxic skincare, healthcare, and biomedical solutions where no alternative exists.