High Priest Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 Crocodile blood may yield powerful new antibiotics 16 Aug 2005 04:59:12 GMT Source: Reuters By Michael Perry SYDNEY, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Scientists in Australia's tropical north are collecting blood from crocodiles in the hope of developing a powerful antibiotic for humans, after tests showed that the reptile's immune system kills the HIV virus. The crocodile's immune system is much more powerful than that of humans, preventing life-threatening infections after savage territorial fights which often leave the animals with gaping wounds and missing limbs. "They tear limbs off each other.and despite the fact that they live in this environment with all these microbes, they heal up very rapidly and normally almost always without infection," said U.S. scientist Mark Merchant, who has been taking crocodile blood samples in the Northern Territory. Initial studies of the crocodile immune system in 1998 found that several proteins (antibodies) in the reptile's blood killed bacteria that were resistant to penicillin, such as Staphylococcus aureus or golden staph, Australian scientist Adam Britton told Reuters on Tuesday. It was also a more powerful killer of the HIV virus than the human immune system. "If you take a test tube of HIV and add crocodile serum it will have a greater effect than human serum. It can kill a much greater number of HIV viral organisms," Britton said from Darwin's Crocodylus Park, a tourism park and research centre. Britton said the crocodile immune system worked differently from the human system by directly attacking bacteria immediately an infection occurred in the body. "The crocodile has an immune system which attaches to bacteria and tears it apart and it explodes. It's like putting a gun to the head of the bacteria and pulling the trigger," he said. For the past 10 days Britton and Merchant have been carefully collecting blood from wild and captive crocodiles, both saltwater and freshwater species. After capturing a crocodile and strapping its powerful jaws closed the scientists extract blood from a large vein behind the head. "It's called a sinus, right behind the head, and it's very easy just to put a needle in the back of the neck and hit this sinus and then you can take a large volume of blood very simply," said Britton. The scientists hope to collect enough crocodile blood to isolate the powerful antibodies and eventually develop an antibiotic for use by humans. "We may be able to have antibiotics that you take orally, potentially also antibiotics that you could run topically on wounds, say diabetic ulcer wounds; burn patients often have their skin infected and things like that," said Merchannt. However, the crocodile's immune system may be too powerful for humans and may need to be synthesised for human consumption. "There is a lot of work to be done. It may take years before we can get to the stage where we have something to market," said Britton. SOURCE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
someone Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 how did magic johnson get cured? they prolly injected him with crocodile blood i think thats y the last time i saw him on tv he was greenish and was biting at the person wheeling his wheel chair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteOx Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 Does this mean I don't have to use a condom when i fuck whores? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_El Mamerro Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 Does this mean I don't have to use a condom when I fuck crocodiles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GimmeDaLoot Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 Originally posted by WhiteOx+Aug 18 2005, 11:06 AM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (WhiteOx - Aug 18 2005, 11:06 AM)</div><div class='quotemain'>Does this mean I don't have to use a condom when i fuck whores? Quoted post [/b] <!--QuoteBegin-El Mamerro@Aug 18 2005, 01:19 PM Does this mean I don't have to use a condom when I fuck crocodiles? Quoted post haha i love it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteOx Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 I don't know what to believe anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!@#$% Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 penicillin, one of the world's most important antibiotics, came from mold. it is vital that science [continue to] reach out to the environment for new sources of ideas and inspiration this is part of the reason why extinction of unkown and poorly understood animal and plant species could end up harming the human race so much right now, there are new developments in pain medication that came, i think, from a snail. the pain meds aren't opiates that produce a high, instead, they block calcium channels so the brain doesn't feel the pain sensation. *majic has not been cured he's one of those lucky folks who stayed on their meds religiously and has not yet developed AIDS. people can live with HIV for a long time without it turning into AIDS, which is then a fairly quick death *AIDS and HIV are also changing. there are now new drug-resistant strains of the pathogens that are being to emerge as the newest threat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26SidedCube Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 YOU GOT THE GOLDEN STAPH!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatalist Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 amazing! lets hope people don't start breeding like fuckin rabbits now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumy Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 It'll be interesting to see what comes of this. The article mentions that were still years away from anything that could be marketable to people though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defyoner Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 this is something along the lines of using sharks for cancer research.. because apparently they can not get cancer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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