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For Infections, Try Gator-cillin

Posted Apr 7, 08 3:28 PM CDT in Science & Health 

(Newser) – Scientists are trying to harness the power of alligator blood to fight disease, bacterial infections, and even HIV, Cox News reports. Proteins in the reptiles' blood have antibiotic properties thanks to the animals' long evolution and frequent exposure to bacteria; their exceptionally effective immune systems can fight off invaders without previous exposure. "It's pretty exciting," says one gator researcher.

Says another researcher: "There's a real possibility that you could be treated with an alligator blood product one day." In the lab, proteins extracted from gator blood have killed bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant staph (MRSA), a fungus that causes yeast infections, and a sample of HIV. Researchers are working to sequence the alligators’ genetic material in hopes of synthesizing drugs for humans, which could be available in 10 years.

Sources Cox Newspapers, BBC

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An alligator is seen at the Gator Park in the Florida Everglades May 17, 2006 in Miami-Dade County.   ((Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images))
An aligator surfaces in a pond near located near the Space Shuttle Discovery as it sits on launch pad 39b at Kennedy Space Center December 8, 2006 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.   ((Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images))
American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) compete for prime position during a feeding frenzy at the Australian Reptile Park near Sydney, 30 September 2003.   ((Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images))
An alligator leaps out of the water to grab a piece of chicken during feeding time at Gatorama in Palmdale, Fla. Sunday, April 22, 2007.   (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
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medical research  • HIV  • antibiotics  • pharmaceutical  • immune system  • MRSA  • alligator  • reptiles


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