BigShinyThing

The scientists, from Darwin’s Crocodylus Park, a tourism and research centre, are now collecting blood from the animals in the hope of developing an antibiotic for humans.

Due to their ultra-violent lifestyle, the crocodile’s immune system is much more powerful than that of humans. Says one of the scientists on the trial, “They tear the limbs off each other and despite the fact they live in this environment with all of these microbes, they heal up very rapidly and normally almost always without infection.”

Another explains, “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 vital organisms.” The crocodile immune system works differently from the human system by attacking bacteria as soon as an infection occurs in the body. Sounding like something out of a video game, the scientists say, “The crocodile has an immune system which attaches to the bacteria and tears it apart and it explodes. It’s like putting a gun to the head of the bacteria and pulling the trigger.”

The study hopes to extract enough crocodile blood to isolate the powerful antibodies and eventually develop an antibiotic for humans. However, the crocodile’s immune system may be simply too powerful for humans and may need to be synthesised for human consumption.

The scientists admit that, “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.”

Reuters has the full story.