NYU undergraduate invents gel that instantly stops bleeding (VIDEO)

NEW YORK – A New York University undergraduate has invented a plant-derived gel that can instantly stop heavy bleeding without the need to apply heavy pressure, the New York Post reported.

“There’s really no way to quickly stop bleeding except to hold lots of gauze on a wound,” Joe Landolina, 20, a junior majoring in biomolecular and chemical engineering who’s also studying for a master’s in biomedical engineering and biomaterials, told the New York Post. “I thought if you could pour this gel into a wound, it would solidify and stop the bleeding.”

The gel contains pieces of plant-derived polymers that mimic the body’s extracellular matrix (ECM), a substance that surrounds cells and holds tissues together. The ECM produced by the gel meshes into the wound surface, forming a tight seal over the wound and activating the body's own clotting process.

Landolina has formed a company, Suneris Inc., with Isaac Miller, a 2012 NYU Stern School of Business grad, to commercialize his gel.

The gel has stopped bleeding instantly on rats’ livers and carotid arteries, according to the New York Post. The company is now working with a cardiovascular surgeon at Englewood Hospital in New Jersey to test the gel on larger living animals, like pigs and sheep.

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