Could seaweed stop coronavirus from infecting human cells?

If confirmed, this seems to be a delicious remedy! Eat more Sushi with seaweed!

The lead author of this new study Alexander Goldberg seems to be a specialist in seaweed.

The relative harmless SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 pandemic is well under control. More than high time to return to normal life! Why SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 is a relatively harmless disease and why the cure was worse than the disease.

"... Ulvan, the major water-soluble polysaccharide extracted from the cell wall of green seaweed, could help stop coronavirus from infecting human cells, according to a team of researchers from Tel Aviv University. ... Through other research they knew that certain seaweed compounds had antiviral properties and so decided they wanted to evaluate them against COVID. ...
Getting started proved a challenge, Golberg recalled, mainly because they needed access to the virus, which was not readily available in Israel. He said only the Israel Institute of Biological Research had it, so they had to look outside the country. Ultimately, they partnered with a university in Alabama. ...
ulvan is effective against viruses in agriculture and also against some of the human viruses ...
They grew Ulva algae, extracted the ulvan from it and sent it to the Southern Research Institute in Alabama. There, the US team built a cellular model to assess the activity of the substance produced in Golberg’s laboratory. The cells were exposed to both the coronavirus and to ulvan. It was found that, in the presence of ulvan, the coronavirus did not infect cells. ..."

From the abstract:

"... Here we compared chemical composition and the in vitro anti- SARS-COV-2 activity of two different Ulva sp. crude ulvan extracts: one obtained by an HCl-based and another one by ammonium oxalate-based (AOx) extraction protocols. The composition of the crude extracts was analyzed and their antiviral activity was assessed in a cytopathic effect reduction assay using Vero E6 cells. We show that the extraction protocols have a significant impact on the chemical composition, anti- SARS-COV-2 activity, and cytotoxicity of these ulvan extracts. ... Our results strongly suggest that further bioassay-guided investigation into bioactivity of compounds found in Ulva sp. ulvan extracts could lead to the discovery of novel anti-SARS-CoV-2 antivirals."

Could seaweed stop coronavirus from infecting human cells? - study - The Jerusalem Post A team of researchers from Tel Aviv University say they have found that ulvan could help stop the spread of coronavirus.

Fighting SARS-CoV-2 with green seaweed Ulva sp. extract: extraction protocol predetermines crude ulvan extract anti-SARS-CoV-2 inhibition properties in in vitro Vero-E6 cells assay (no public access)