Panda Blood May Hold Potent Assailant Against Superbugs

An anonymous reader writes "Pandas have long been the face of conservation efforts by environmental activists, but a recent finding may boost even further the need for pandas to evade extinction. Researchers have discovered a powerful antibody in panda blood that could serve as the next frontier in the fight against increasingly prevalent superbugs. The compound is called cathelicin-AM. Discovered when researchers analyzed the creatures' DNA, it has been found to kill fungus and bacteria. It is believed that the antibiotic is released to protect the animal from infections in the wild and, in studies, it has been found to kill both standard and drug-resistant strains of microbes and fungi. The compound also worked extremely quickly, killing off strains of bacteria in just an hour, while conventional antibiotics needed six."

Comments

Gypsy Tears

[WillgasM]

Gypsy tears work way better, and at a fraction of the price.

Re:Gypsy Tears

[arth1]

Do you know how hard it is to make a Gypsy cry?

Not hard at all - just tell him how much it's going to cost to fix his caravan.

Now a gypsy virgin's tears, on the other cheek...

Wow - Pandas

[Anonymous Coward]

Cool, so now I just need to eat some Pandas and I won't ever get sick. Can you just see that spreading? It seems like the masses always get some lame, diluted, and plain wrong message out of this stuff. Goodbye Pandas...

Yeah!

[Anonymous Coward]

I cant wait to give this to my cattle in an uncontrolled fashon!

Biological Panda Secrets

[guttentag]

So it turns out Panda DNA contains great biological secrets? No wonder they often refuse to mate in captivity, and when they do the offspring dies quickly. They're afraid we'll see them bestowing the magic on their young, and their secret will be out.

Re:But there's one big problem

[Anonymous Coward]

Mmm, Finger Ling-Ling Good!

Or that other obligatory reference:

[rmdingler]

Plus there's this: Panda walks into a bar, sits down, and orders a sandwich. He eats the sandwich, pulls out a gun, and shoots the waiter dead. He stands up to go and the bartender yells, "What the hell? You shot my waiter and now you're leaving without paying for that sandwich." The panda yells back over his shoulder, "I'm a Panda. Look it up." Sure enough, the bartender's Merriam-Webster said, "A tree-dwelling marsupial of Asian origin, characterized by distinctive black and white coloring. Eats shoots and leaves."

Re:Serious question:

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Ok, so we've isolated the compound. Why do we need the Pandas now?

To prepare for the next big Pandemy, of course!