An Alligator Could Save Your Life

Someday, an alligator might save your life.

Researchers in Louisiana say they've discovered unique antibiotic proteins in the blood of American alligators that can kill a wide range of deadly bacteria, halt the spread of common infections, and perhaps even stop HIV, which causes AIDS.

If they're right, and they're able to sequence the genetics of 'gator blood, the researchers say superdrugs based on their findings might be available within 10 years.

"It's pretty exciting," said Lancia Darville, a Louisiana State University researcher who is to present the findings at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans this week.
So far, the researchers say they've determined that the proteins found in alligator blood can fight 23 different types of bacteria, nearly three times as many as the proteins found in human blood.
At least in lab experiments, proteins extracted from 'gator blood destroyed the bacteria behind deadly staph infections, different fungi behind yeast infections, and in at least one study, most of a sample of HIV, the researchers said.

Darville explained that alligators have developed unique immune systems during the course of their long evolution.

"If you think about alligators, they usually get into a lot of fights and get cuts and bruises and torn limbs, and they live in swamps that have a whole lot of bacteria," she said. "But even in the presence of all that bacteria, they [almost] never get any infections."

The reason, Darville explained, is that 'gators have unusually strong immune systems. Unlike humans, their immune systems can fight off different types of bacteria, viruses and fungi without having been previously exposed to them.

Technology, however, is taking research to new levels. Darville and study co-author Mark Merchant now are sequencing the genetic makeup of alligator blood to figure out how to make chemicals based on it — the next step in developing new drugs.

Possible drugs include creams that could be used to treat ulcers of diabetes patients or prevent infections in amputees, and pills to fight internal infections and bacteria.

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