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posted by mrpg on Sunday December 09 2018, @04:46PM   Printer-friendly
from the spiderman dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

MIT engineers repurpose wasp venom as an antibiotic drug

The venom of insects such as wasps and bees is full of compounds that can kill bacteria. Unfortunately, many of these compounds are also toxic for humans, making it impossible to use them as antibiotic drugs.

After performing a systematic study of the antimicrobial properties of a toxin normally found in a South American wasp, researchers at MIT have now created variants of the peptide that are potent against bacteria but nontoxic to human cells.

In a study of mice, the researchers found that their strongest peptide could completely eliminate Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a strain of bacteria that causes respiratory and other infections and is resistant to most antibiotics.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 09 2018, @07:05PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 09 2018, @07:05PM (#772053)

    Well, if you don't like aspirin, you can still get (white) willow bark...
        https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-955/willow-bark [webmd.com]
    No one seems to have patented/registered/copyrighted it.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 09 2018, @07:09PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 09 2018, @07:09PM (#772055)

    If you don't like buying the bark, chew a willow tree.

    Cinchona bark makes some good tea.