Hydrosomes: Tiny Bubbles with Huge Potential

When I first heard about hydrosomes, I honestly thought, “That can’t be real.” Hydrosomes are microscopic bubbles that stay in water without coalescing and rising to the surface. Then I met Nick Jackowetz, the Senior VP and Principal Scientist and the team from Hydrosome Labs at BIO 2024 in San Diego. They answered my questions and I invited Nick to be a guest on the podcast to share the story with you. Hydrosomes are also known as ultrafine bubbles, and they have incredible potential for many applications. If you’ve ever wondered how something as seemingly simple as a bubble could revolutionize fields like agriculture, cosmetics, and even fermentation, then this episode is definitely one to tune into.

Nick started by breaking down the basics of what makes these ultrafine bubbles so unique. We’re talking about bubbles so small that they’re measured in nanometers—around the size of a virus particle. To put that into perspective, imagine a champagne bubble, which is already tiny to the naked eye. Now, pack a trillion of these ultrafine bubbles into that single champagne bubble, and you start to grasp just how small we’re talking about. It’s mind-boggling, right? These bubbles don’t even float like the ones we’re used to; they stay suspended in solution because they’re not governed by the same buoyancy rules. This leads to some pretty wild implications for how they can be used.

Even the physics of these bubbles changes at such a small scale. For instance, the pressure inside these bubbles can reach up to 30 atmospheres, which is 30 times the pressure we experience in our everyday environment. This intense pressure doesn’t make them pop as you might expect; instead, it opens up new possibilities for gas delivery in various applications. Imagine being able to deliver oxygen directly to cells in a way that’s more efficient and targeted than ever before. Because the bubbles have an enormous collective surface area, believed to be charged, the team is looking at how they attract and move nutrients around.

While the concept has been around since the 1980s, the science has only really taken off in the last decade. The early research mainly came out of Japan, where these bubbles were first studied in applications like agriculture and aquaculture. It turns out that these tiny bubbles can help grow plants more effectively by delivering nutrients and gases directly to the roots.

Are you subscribed yet? If not, let’s fix that.

I was curious to learn about potential applications. One area that’s particularly exciting is their potential in consumer packaged goods, especially in cosmetics. Imagine being able to deliver active ingredients like vitamin C or retinol more effectively into the skin without the need for added chemicals. That’s exactly what these ultrafine bubbles can do. By improving how these ingredients penetrate the skin, we could see a new wave of cosmetic products that are not only more effective but also safer for consumers.

We didn’t stop there. The potential for these bubbles in the beverage industry is another game-changer. Picture your favorite sparkling water, but instead of regular carbonation, the drink is infused with ultrafine bubbles. These tiny bubbles could enhance flavor profiles, reduce the need for added sugars, and even change the overall sensory experience of the drink. Nick mentioned ongoing research into how different gases inside these bubbles—like nitrogen or nitrous oxide—could create new taste sensations and improve the mouthfeel of beverages. The idea that you could enjoy a sweeter taste with less sugar is not just intriguing; it could have significant implications for the health-conscious consumer market.

For life sciences, the interesting application is in fermentation processes. These bubbles could play a crucial role in making fermentation more efficient, which is especially important as industries incre