Study suggests that alligator blood paves way for new antibiotics

Alligator can not only kill but help people. According to the new research, alligator blood can help in creation of antibiotics against ulcers, burns and drug-resistant superbugs.

Photo: Study suggests that alligator blood paves way for new antibiotics

The research is new and can give any definite information or prove about alligator blood prospects, but it really sounds promising.

The theory is based on the knowledge that alligators can automatically fight germs without having been exposed to them before launching a defense.

The initial steps of the study were conducted by professors from McNeese State University and Louisiana State University, and included only some laboratory tests.

The test included the extraction of proteins (peptides) from white cells in alligator blood. They were later exposed to various types of bacteria to trace down the results.

The protein killed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, and six of eight strains of Candida albicans. MRSA infections are responsible for more deaths in the U.S. each year than AIDS. Candida albicans has emerged as important causes of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients (e.g., AIDS, cancer chemotherapy, organ or bone marrow transplantation).

The next step is to create a drug that will cheat our immune system, in other words to make the body think that it’s not a protein.

Photo: science.howstuffworks.com