• Naturally occuring antibiotic in pandas could be key player against drug resitant bacteria and fung
    22 replies, posted
[quote][B]Pandas have long been the face of conservation efforts by environmental activists, but a recent finding may boost even further the need for pandas to evade extinction. Researchers have discovered a powerful antibody in panda blood that could serve as the next frontier in the fight against increasingly prevalent superbugs.[/B] The compound is called cathelicin-AM. Discovered when researchers analyzed the creatures' DNA, it has been found to kill fungus and bacteria. It is believed that the antibiotic is released to protect the animal from infections in the wild and, in studies, it has been found to kill both standard and drug-resistant strains of microbes and fungi. The compound also worked extremely quickly, killing off strains of bacteria in just an hour, while conventional antibiotics needed six. "Gene-encoded antimicrobial peptides play an important role in innate immunity against noxious microorganisms," lead researcher Dr. Xiuwen Yen, from the Life Sciences College of Nanjing Agricultural University, in China[URL="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9770944/Giant-Pandas-hold-new-weapon-in-fight-against-superbugs.html"] said to the Telegraph[/URL]. "They cause much less drug resistance of microbes than conventional antibiotics." Fortunately, scientists do not need to rely on pandas' famously low ability to breed in order to boost their numbers. Researchers have been able to create a synthetic version of the material in the laboratory, decoding the genes in order to create a small molecule known as a peptide. That is good news because there is believed to be only about 1,600 pandas in the world right now. Pandas are notoriously bad at breeding, even in the wild, in part because females only are fertile once per year. Millions of dollars have been poured into artificial breeding techniques, to little avail. The limited success has caused many to wonder if the money could be better spent on other, potentially more successful conservation efforts. Researchers hope that their synthetic version can be deployed as an antibiotic or as a surface sanitizer. They believe that the panda genome may store other drugs as well. Pandas are not the only animals that may serve as a new antibiotic: antimicrobial properties have been found in snail mucus and amphibians as well.[/quote] Source(s) [URL]http://dvice.com/archives/2013/01/panda-blood-com.php[/URL] [URL]http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/13712/20121231/panda-blood-hold-potent-assailant-against-superbugs.htm[/URL] [URL]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9770944/Giant-Pandas-hold-new-weapon-in-fight-against-superbugs.html[/URL]
I love pandas. [t]http://gazeta-mz.ru/site/images/page/images/6_str_1(3).jpg[/t]
Welp, now [b]everyone[/b] has a reason to keep the species going strong! I mean, besides the fact that they're fucking adorable.
Sounds like an excuse to kill more pandas gotta kick this infection by next week, better inject panda blood
[QUOTE=Vodkavia;39062472]They can create it synthetically in a lab though, not sure how it would make people even more enthusiastic about saving a species whose antibiotic doesn't require their continued existence to make use of.[/QUOTE] Because these kinds of discoveries can't be made if the hosts are all dead because we figured we might as well let them die out if they don't serve an industrial purpose.
[quote]It is believed that the antibiotic is released to protect the animal from infections in the wild and, in studies, it has been found to kill both standard and drug-resistant strains of microbes and fungi.[/quote] Woo, a new antibiotic. Watch as they give it needlessly to every asshole with the flu and make every damn bacteria resistant to it.
At first I thought we should all start eating vast amounts of bamboo.
This just goes to show that environmental protection vs land development isn't just a black and white issue.
Got an Athlete's foot? Kick a panda!
lets farm them
Bacteria will just evolve to resist this antibiotic as well...
[QUOTE=Jetblack357;39066471]Bacteria will just evolve to resist this antibiotic as well...[/QUOTE] Yes lets just give up now, there's no hope when they just adapt every time right? [editline]2nd January 2013[/editline] Who even cares about being healthy?
[QUOTE=Jetblack357;39066471]Bacteria will just evolve to resist this antibiotic as well...[/QUOTE] Yes you are right. We should have never bothered with them at all :downs:
Well at least we don't have to rely on the Panda's to get it. I'd hate to see something like what happens in parts of China were they lock bears in cages and drain them of whatever that stuff is that they sell.
So we harvest panda's in panda farms for antibiotics? Sounds good to me.
[QUOTE=Jetblack357;39066471]Bacteria will just evolve to resist this antibiotic as well...[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Viper202;39066524]Yes lets just give up now, there's no hope when they just adapt every time right? [editline]2nd January 2013[/editline] Who even cares about being healthy?[/QUOTE] I see his message as "Don't get your hopes up, this won't solve everything" rather than "Fuck this nothing good will come of it
[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;39063549]This just goes to show that environmental protection vs land development isn't just a black and white issue.[/QUOTE] This extends to all sorts of things too. Old growth forests have been the source of all sorts of wonder products. Especially fungi. All sorts of amazing anti microbial goodies to research, and all sorts of hazardous materials cleanup. [editline]2nd January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=NoDachi;39066559]Yes you are right. We should have never bothered with them at all :downs:[/QUOTE] I think you can make a very convincing case that antibiotics are over prescribed, accelerating evolution towards resistance, but I agree that not using antibiotics at all is stupid.
[QUOTE=Jetblack357;39066471]Bacteria will just evolve to resist this antibiotic as well...[/QUOTE] Yes they will but not in your lifetime :D
[QUOTE=ewitwins;39062406]Welp, now [b]everyone[/b] has a reason to keep the species going strong! I mean, besides the fact that they're fucking adorable.[/QUOTE] i think saving a species for being adorable is just as awful as killing them all
[QUOTE=Elecbullet;39070903]I see his message as "Don't get your hopes up, this won't solve everything" rather than "Fuck this nothing good will come of it[/QUOTE] Yeah, poor wording.
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