----- Original Message -----
From: J. Kent Hastings <jkenth@wizard.com>
To: <LeftLibertarian@onelist.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 18, 2000 5:19 AM
Subject: [LeftLibertarian] crocodillin
From: "J. Kent Hastings" <jkenth@wizard.com>
As seen on http://www.lewrockwell.com
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/03/17/timnwsnws03010.html
March 17 2000 BRITAIN
©
The crocodile's blood keeps infection at bay
Crocodiles can kill germs
BY NIGEL HAWKES SCIENCE EDITOR
THE chemical that crocodiles use to protect themselves against infection has
been isolated, thanks to the curiosity of a BBC documentary producer.
The discovery was announced by Greg Dyke, the BBC Director-General, last
night when he spoke at the annual dinner of the Science Museum in London.
"On a trip to film saltwater crocodiles in Australia, our producer noticed
something that surprised her," Mr Dyke said. "Despite the horrendous
injuries the crocs inflict on each other, the wounds rarely get infected."
Jill Fullerton-Smith was making a documentary about crocodiles for Living
Proof, the BBC1 series. She said yesterday that natural antibiotics had been
found in various animals, including frogs, but nobody had looked at
reptiles. "I consulted all the experts, and found they had no explanation of
how crocodiles avoid infection, given they spend so much time fighting each
other." She was able to get a blood sample, which was refrigerated and sent
to Dr Gill Diamond, of New Jersey Medical School in Newark. He split it into
component parts and tested them against common bacteria. "One of them blew
away the bacteria," Ms Fullerton-Smith said. "We have called it
crocodillin."
The material is a peptide, a natural chemical made of amino acids strung
together that can destroy bacteria by penetrating their membranes. For some
reason, such natural antibiotics do not damage normal cells. This means that
one day they could be useful to treat human infections.
Mr Dyke said the BBC had the largest group of science specialists of any
broadcaster - 300 - but discovering something new in science was, even for
the BBC, "very unusual".
------
Fwd by Kent
LitSpace, http://litspace.com
A well lit space for litrachure.
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