Hospital hero? This frog has the makings of a lifesaver

01/04/2012 2:02
Hospital hero? This frog has the makings of a lifesaver

Nature to the rescue of humanity yet again. It seem however that unless we can put a price tag on it or unless it can directly save us (usually from predicaments we’ve created) it’s regarded as worthless.

Excerpts below -the full article can be read from the link above  
NUCLEAR scientists are using native frogs to thwart hospital superbugs in work that sounds more like the plot of a sci-fi thriller than legitimate research.
Sydney and Melbourne scientists are studying several species of Australian frogs…. whose skin secretions are toxic to a range of bacteria, including multi-drug-resistant golden staph know as MRSA.

The research leader, Frances Separovic, a biophysical biologist, said most antimicrobial peptides killed bacteria by puncturing or lysing (causing them to disintegrate) their membranes. This made it hard for bacteria to develop resistance to them..‘On the other hand, most antibiotics inhibit protein synthesis in a bacteria and, over time, mutations in the bacteria lead to resistance to the antibiotics,” 


Tess Michaels