Reuters reports that scientists in Australia are collecting crocodile blood in the hopes that they will be able to create powerful drugs based on their research. Crocodiles have a much more powerful immune system than humans.
Initial studies of the crocodile immune system in 1998 found that several proteins (antibodies) in the reptile’s blood killed bacteria that were resistant to penicillin, such as Staphylococcus aureus or golden staph, Australian scientist Adam Britton told Reuters on Tuesday. It was also a more powerful killer of the HIV virus than the human immune system.
“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 viral organisms,” Britton said from Darwin’s Crocodylus Park, a tourism park and research center.
In the Reuters article scientists said that it will take several years before any human antibiotics developed from the crocodile blood will be available.
