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Cod Enzyme Kills Bird Flu

Posted by samzenpus on from the fish-your-flu-away dept.

Jon Golden writes "An Icelandic cod enzyme might be the cure for bird flu. A recent experiment, which the Icelandic company Ensímtaekni hf. took part in, indicates that in five minutes, the isolated fish enzyme killed 99 percent of H5N1 viruses. The killer enzyme, called penzim, was extracted from the intestines of cod by Ensímtaekni and is currently being developed for beauty products and various types of medicine. The experiment on the H5N1 virus was conducted in London. CEO of Ensímtaekni and biochemist Jón Bragi Bjarnason said he is very excited about the results of the bird flu experiment. "People have feared that the bird flu virus will change into a human flu virus and now we have a likely cure in case that happens." Bjarnason also believes that penzim might prove a cure for common flu and cold, eczema in children and arthritis."

7 of 206 comments (clear)

  1. Cure? by nebaz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Not to state the obvious here, but if it kills 90% of the virus, doesn't that just mean that next year we'll get a flue completely immune to this stuff?

    --
    Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
    1. Re:Cure? by cosmicaug · · Score: 5, Interesting
      As a guess, I would assume that this would involve much further study to determine why the enzyme was so successful in the first place and then try to make it much more potent; essentially, they see the possibility of making a cure from this but it is not ready yet.


      As a wild assed guess, it is so successful in the first place because it is probably some fairly potent and fairly non selective protease. The fact that it kills viruses in a test tube means almost nothing. For this to be effective as a drug it must be able to kill these viruses in a living organism and it must do so while producing minimal damage to said living organism.
    2. Re:Cure? by megaditto · · Score: 5, Funny
      Since this sounds too good to be true, I think it has to be taken with a grain of salt.

      Well, a 1-in-10 dilution of chlorine-based household bleach will kill 100% of the germs. But what's good for treating biohazard might not be good for treating children.

      I know it's Troll Wednesday, but what the hell...
      --
      Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
  2. Act of Cod? by halovaa · · Score: 5, Funny

    What God giveth, Cod taketh away

  3. Birds/Fish by Nux'd · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nice one nature..

    Give the ability to fight off bird flu to an animal most unlikely to encounter a bird.

    Lucky fishes..

  4. Well that explains it by mgabrys_sf · · Score: 5, Funny

    Probably why I've never seen a Cod sneeze before.

  5. Re:A few interesting things about the bird flu by cosmicaug · · Score: 5, Insightful
    There are at least a dozen _known_ diseases that will just as gleefully sicken or even kill the human animal.
    Why we're so upset about the bird flu and what makes it special, I don't know, except of course that the entire
    subject is pushed into our faces and through our ears nonstop through the media. (Just to forestall some
    comments: The rabies virus could mutate too and become airborne for all we know. Gnade uns Gott should that ever
    happen).


    That's a pretty fucking awful example to pick.

    It is bloody unlikely that rabies will mutate into an airborne virus anytime soon. It would essentially have to become a completely different virus.

    Influenza, on the other hand, is known for it's amazing mutational and recombinational "ability".

    Rabies is not known for causing great pandemics associated producing very substantial mortality.

    Influenza, on the other hand, is known for causing great pandemics producing very substantial mortality.

    Rabies does not truly have the potential to create massive epidemics in livestock animals which may serve as a reservoirs from whence a human disease outbreak may start.

    Avian influenza, on the other hand, does.

    Rabies does not truly have the potential to create massive epidemics in wild animals which may serve as widespread infectious sources for domestic animals and as a reservoir from whence a human disease outbreak may start.

    Avian influenza, on the other hand, does.

    Animal infected by rabies are very rarely (if ever) the types to engage in the sorts of great migrations which may sometimes literally span the globe.

    Animals infected by avian influenza, on the other hand, sometimes are.

    I could probably go on (or maybe not --but I'm not about to try).