Cute science: Pandas can help fight superbugs
In the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, scientists have an unexpected new ally: The giant panda
By Katie McdonoughTopics: Science, Research, Health, antibiotics, Pandas, Animals, weird science, Life News, News
Fighting drug-resistant microorganisms has never been so adorable!
Researchers at the Life Sciences College of Nanjing Agricultural University in China recently discovered that the endangered giant panda has a potent antimicrobial compound in its bloodstream. Known as cathelicidin-AM, the compound can kill a wide range of bacteria, including those that are resistant to antibiotics.
According to the Daily Telegraph, cathelicidin-AM was able to kill bacteria in less than an hour — five hours faster than other widely used antibiotics.
The discovery may lead to increased interest in preserving the population of wild pandas. There are about 1,600 left in the wild, and more than 300 pandas live in zoos and breeding centers around the world, mostly in China.
And for those worried that this scientific breakthrough will lead to pandas being killed for their amazing antibiotic blood: fear not. The compound can be manufactured synthetically in the laboratory.
Katie McDonough is an assistant editor for Salon, focusing on lifestyle. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salo
Related Stories
More Related Stories
-
I'm not achieving my dreams!
-
The most popular Tumblr porn
-
Slave descendants seek equal rights from Cherokee Nation
-
Snapchat is secretly storing your photos
-
Peace Corps to allow gay couples to volunteer together
-
Facebook's hate speech problem
-
Rand Paul: Congress should apologize to Apple, not the other way around
-
When my home was destroyed
-
Okla. mother's tearful reunion with her 8-year-old son
-
New campaign compares gun control to anti-LGBT discrimination
-
Study: Salt Lake City is gay parenting capital of the U.S.
-
You are less beautiful than you think
-
"Ghetto" tour lets you gawk at New York's poor
-
Teen activist to meet with Abercrombie CEO
-
Watch: Family emerges from storm shelter after tornado
-
Okla. tornado survivor reunited with dog trapped in rubble live on camera
-
My miscarriages made me question being pro-choice
-
Why I tried to be a punk
-
I'm terrified of the cicada onslaught
-
Limbaugh: No one willing to impeach the first black president
-
SAT's right answers are all wrong
Featured Slide Shows
The week in 10 pics
close X- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
-
Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
Credit: AP/LM Otero -
Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
Credit: AP/Matt Rourke -
A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher -
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
Credit: AP/Molly Riley -
Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite -
Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster -
O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid -
Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield -
When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin -
A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin -
Recent Slide Shows
- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
Related Videos
Most Read
-
Oklahoma senator: Tornado aid "totally different" from Sandy aid
Jillian Rayfield
-
Horrifying new trend: Posting rapes to Facebook
Mary Elizabeth Williams
-
Facebook's hate speech problem
Mary Elizabeth Williams
-
Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia
Andrew Leonard
-
Brad Pitt keeps breaking his silence on how boring marriage to Jennifer Aniston was
Daniel D'Addario
-
GOP attorney general candidate tried to force women to report miscarriages to police
Katie Mcdonough
-
Beltway scandal machine breaks, knows nothing about America
Joan Walsh
-
Inhofe and Coburn: Red state hypocrites
Joan Walsh
-
Zach Galifianakis to take formerly homeless woman to "Hangover 3" premiere
Prachi Gupta
-
Anyone regret slashing National Weather Service budget now?
David Sirota
Popular on Reddit
links from salon.com

3141 points3142 points3143 points | 2755 comments

153 points154 points155 points | 64 comments

35 points36 points37 points | 11 comments
From Around the Web
Presented by Scribol
-
Diane Gilman: Baby Boomers: A New Life-Construct -- From "Invisible to Invincible!" -
Susan Gregory Thomas: Why Divorced Boomer Moms Don't Deserve The Bad Rap -
British Nanny Offered An Annual Salary Of $200,000 -
Arianna Huffington: What I Did (and Didn't Do) On My Summer Vacation -
Vivian Diller, Ph.D.: Maybe Happiness Begins At 50
- Britain's princes William and Charles plead for end to $15 billion black market trade in exotic animals (VIDEO)
- Golden Gate Bridge jumper rescued by passing sailors
- Key Senate committee approves immigration overhaul
- Peace Corps will accept same-sex couples
- Former Ford executives indicted for human rights abuses in Argentina






Comments
0 Comments