By Becky Worley, Tech Live

You may rigorously apply sunscreen, but if you miss a spot or get caught outside without your beloved SPF 15, what then? As "Tech Live" reports tonight, a new solution promises to help stave off the damaging effects of the sun on your skin -- from the inside out.

BioAstin is a dietary supplement that purports to reduce the negative effects of the sun by neutralizing free radicals at a subcutaneous level. BioAstin is made from an algae by-product called astaxanthin (pronounced asta-zan-thin).

BioAstin is grown and distributed by Cyanotech. Its CEO, Gerry Cysewski, says BioAstin is a potent antioxidant, more than 500 times stronger than vitamin E and 10 times stronger than beta-carotene.

Free radicals are the negative by-products of bad living: sun, booze, and so on. Antioxidants attract these roaming free radicals and neutralize them before they can attack the body and cause damage. Fighting free radicals was part of a big anti-aging craze in the 1990s, but Cysewski, who has a Ph.D., says astaxanthin has shown proven results.

"In clinical trials subjects were able to stay in the sun longer without burning after they'd taken BioAstin," he said. In Cyanotech's trials, subjects were exposed to the sun before taking the supplement. The baseline was determined by how long they could stay in the sun before they got burned. After two weeks of taking BioAstin, that baseline was retested. Cyanotech says the average subject could withstand 20 percent more exposure without burning. Some subjects saw a 50 percent improvement.

Hard to swallow

BioAstin made its debut in 2001, and some in the medical community cried foul.

John Woodruff, a cosmetic chemist in the United Kingdom, went on record to question BioAstin's effectiveness.

"Initial damage is to the skin surface. UVB radiation does not penetrate very far. UVA does get to the dermal layers. Both types are responsible for damage to the body's immune system, which can lead to skin cancers. Antioxidants are useful for preventing a lot of cellular damage, but I still think that the surface is where the protection is needed," Woodruff wrote in an article written for a British chemists society. Woodruff also argues for the importance of using topical sunscreen.

Cysewski agrees that sunscreen is key to fighting the sun. "Astaxanthin can help protect the skin against UV radiation, but we very strongly recommend that people also use sunscreen."

He says dermatologists initially got the wrong idea, thinking Cyanotech was marketing a replacement for sunscreen. He says the medical community is slowly seeing the big picture.

"Once doctors realize that we're not making a claim that we have a total internal sunscreen, then they become more interested that it could help people fight damage from UV radiation. There's an awful lot of skin cancer and it's growing at an alarming rate," he said.

Going topical too

Cyanotech is selling BioAstin both as a pill to be ingested and as an additive to be applied topically in sunscreen.

"The potential of BioAstin natural astaxanthin in both topical and oral sunscreen applications may prove to be significant as sun-care companies like Sea & Ski have introduced multiple-ingredient topical products containing natural astaxanthin," Cysewski said. "Additionally, three European companies are now selling or developing oral or topical sunscreen products using BioAstin."

Since BioAstin is a dietary supplement, it doesn't have to endure the same type of scrutiny that the Food and Drug Administration imposes upon drugs. But under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), Cyanotech had to submit safety data to the FDA so it could verify that the supplement would not hurt people.

How it's made

The astaxanthin production facility looks like a lunar landscape dotted with red pools each the length of a football field. Cyanotech grows astaxanthin in the hot lava fields of Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. The coastline averages 360 sunny days a year and 11 inches of annual rainfall. Because growing astaxanthin mandates sun and heat, Kona was the ideal location for the operation.

"We originally thought about putting the facility in Nevada and relying upon both solar and hydrothermal for heat sources," Cysewski said. "But when we saw that Kona gets so little rainfall, we knew that this was the place." The pH balance of the ponds is crucial for the astaxanthin's development. A frequent influx of freshwater from rain would mandate rebalancing the ponds on a regular basis.

Paddle wheels in each pool keep the water from becoming stagnant, but when the ocean breeze stalls out, the fields smell like a terrarium.

To create the astaxanthin, the pools are filled with green haematococcus algae. As the algae is exposed to the harsh UV rays of the Hawaiian sun, the algae reacts to protect itself.

"Green haematococcus is put in these ponds and in just six days they form a cyst or a spore and rapidly start accumulating astaxanthin," Cysewski explained. "It's photosynthesis that's taking place." The astaxanthin is bright red and completely obscures the green haematococcus. The BioAstin pills are dark brown, but when you hold them up to the light you can see the red tint shining through.

As we look for new ways to fight the effects of the sun, aquaculture and biotech may be the next wave in alternative medicines and preventative health supplements.