Scientists think snakes and lizards could help them find new ways to prevent painful kidney stones and gout in people. And it all owes to an evolutionary trick.

Reptiles don’t just pee; they crystallize their waste to save water.

Researchers who examined the solid urine of more than 20 reptile species recently reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society that all contained minuscule spheres made of uric acid.

The finding underscores how reptiles have developed a unique way to store and excrete waste in a crystalline form—findings that could one day lead to new ways of treating human conditions linked to uric acid build up.

“This research was really inspired by a desire to understand the ways reptiles are able to excrete this material safely, in the hopes it might inspire new approaches to disease prevention and treatment,” corresponding author Jennifer Swift, a professor of chemistry at Georgetown University, said in a news release.

While people flush out excess nitrogen through urine as urea, uric acid and ammonia, reptiles transform some of those same compounds into solids known as “urates.” These are then expelled through an opening called the cloaca.

While this crystal formation helps reptiles survive, the same process causes big trouble in humans.

Uric acid levels that are too high can cause crystals to build up in joints (gout) or in the urinary tract (kidney stones).

Swift’s team used powerful microscopes to learn how reptiles’ systems differ from peoples’.

They found that species like pythons and Madagascan tree boas produce urates comprised of textured spheres no more than 0.0004 of an inch in size.

These microspheres from from even smaller nanocrystals of water and uric acid. And, researchers found, the uric acid helps turn toxic ammonia into a safer, solid form.

Researchers theorize that uric acid may have a similar protective role in people, but they need to do more work to be sure.

In any event, the findings suggest that the chemistry underlying reptile waste could one day lead to development of better ways to treat uric acid-related diseases.

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