posted on Sep, 2 2003 @ 05:02 PM
For those who mentioned something about finding new antibiotics from the Komodo Dragon:
The Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard, lives on the island of Komodo and nearby isles in Indonesia. This monster can grow to be 10 feet long
has been known to eat people and anything else that gets in its way, including other Komodo dragons. We aren't painting a pretty picture of this
animal, and it only gets worse. The Komodo dragon is a scavenger as well as a hunter, and the dead animals it finds and eats are often rotten and
crawling with disease-causing microbes...mmm! Our pal Komodo turns this to its advantage when hunting. Often, it doesn't attack and kill its prey,
but just gives it a good bite on the leg, for example, then lets the prey run away. Since Komodo has been feeding on infected carrion, its saliva is
filled with deadly microbes. When Komodo bites its prey, the prey gets infected, and soon dies. When this happens, Komodo returns to chow down on the
dead animal.
Komodo's use of biological warfare to kill its prey made Diamond wonder about something. Why don't the deadly microbes kill the Komodo dragon? So he
began to study the bodily fluids of Komodo dragons, again looking for compounds with antibiotic substances. Who knows? A drug found in the Komodo
dragon may save your life someday.
The natural world is a place of fierce competition. Penicillium mold produces penicillin to protect itself from the onslaught of bacteria. Since
bacteria can infect any organism, it's only logical that other organisms, including big scary reptiles, might produce antibiotics to protect
themselves as well. Whether or not killers like the salt water crocodile and the Komodo dragon will become life-saving sources of antibiotics remains
to be seen. But one thing is for certain. Alexander Fleming, Howard Florey, or Ernest Chain never had to worry about getting an arm bitten off by a
penicillium mold!
www.chemheritage.org...