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South Indian Frog Oozes Molecule That Inexplicably Decimates Flu Viruses (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: From the slimy backs of a South Indian frog comes a new way to blast influenza viruses. A compound in the frog's mucus -- long known to have germ-killing properties -- can latch onto flu virus particles and cause them to burst apart, researchers report in Immunity. The peptide is a potent and precise killer, able to demolish a whole class of flu viruses while leaving other viruses and cells unharmed. But scientists don't know exactly how it pulls off the viral eviscerations. No other antiviral peptide of its ilk seems to work the same way. The study authors, led by researchers at Emory University, note that the peptide appears uniquely nontoxic -- something that can't be said of many other frog-based compounds. Thus, the peptide on its own holds promise of being a potential therapy someday. But simply figuring out how it works could move researchers closer to a vaccine or therapy that could take out all flus, ditching the need for yearly vaccinations for each season's flavor of flu.
Decimate: Kill one in every ten
That doesn't sound very useful.
...how all the technical and scientific capabilities of humankind cannot develop an antibody for a particular virus, but our immune systems do it in a couple of days, no sweat. Or rather, possibly lots of sweat, but they do it. One would thing that it would be possible to replicate the process somehow.
Note: I understand that, in the case indicated in the article, it goes beyond that, offering some kind of general-purpose antibody, probably targeting parts of the virus cover that are more hidden, and usually don't mutate. But anyway. That we cannot design that peptide, and must rely on the blind watchmaker to find it for us, is a bit baffling.
Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
quick, lets put it in soap!
Found the cure!!! Just need to figure out how to patent and monetize it so we can release it to society.
See, politicians, conserving biodiversity is not just hippy-happy-pro-Western-and-gay-culture-talk, potentially leading to the evils of godless democracy and missing the key authority figure of you.
... to do the same with viruses that antibiotics did with bacterial infections.
Yup. And we humans then get to do with those [new medicines and stuff] what we did with antibiotics: eat, feed and inject them in every chance for fun and profit (and in some occasions, for real purposes).
So decimating, as usual, the medicines (you can choose whether that means one in ten or more).
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Guys, this is my backyard. My former home state had been ruled by film actors/actresses/script writers ( MGR Jaylalitha Karunanidhi Annadurai ) who played do-gooder heros. The current crop of politicians in my home state is slimier than anything the world has ever seen. If the slime from the stupid frogs kills rhinoviruses, the slime from the current politicians would even kill HIV!!!! Just saying ....
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
"Ok, so we're all at the lab getting high when we ran out of weed and Jim started telling us about how you can hallucinate from licking the back of a frog..." ;)
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Great Article!
If this does turn out to have therapeutic value, it will never see the public market. How could Pharma justify loosing billions of dollars on flu vaccines? It cannot; it will not.
Decimate: Kill one in every ten
That doesn't sound very useful.
That's because the modern meaning of the word "decimate" usually means something more like killing 9 out of ten, leaving only 10%.
To do old-style decimation properly you'd need Roman troops.
Next up, why a nice answer doesn't mean what it did in Shakespeare's day.
Eat a live toadXXX/frog every morning...
but this sounds to me like an additional call to, as a species, get our environmental practices under control and stop 'instinctifying' flora and fauna at a breakneck pace. With findings like this, I have to wonder how many illness-treating, disease-defeating compounds we may have sent into oblivion by killing off the plants, animals, and insects which produced them.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
...The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka?
And Big Pharma will have this patented (to never be seen again) in 3..2..1...
Anything that can really heal any illness is not profitable, it kills its own market. It's much more profitable to make products that fight symptoms of diseases, and preferably have some side effects of their own for which other stuff can be sold.
Don't ever think Big Pharma wants you to be(come) healthy!
What person will donate an airborne act of love?
Rather I would say each one was selected for and ended having the function they have now, rather than customized. We even have some protein which started at some function, then with each different selection ended having a different function, which was more important for the survival of the organism, in addition of the original one. IIRC flagella in bacteria was originally a transport protein between intra/extra membrane environment.
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until the viruses evolve past this, which is inevitable.
The new flu therapy they are developing will give new meaning to the phrase "I have a frog in my throat."
OTOH I have tons of 'molecules' in plastic bottles under my kitchen sink that can also have germ-killing properties.
contain frog slime...but it has side effects... I'll leave that up to your imagination...
Where can I get one of these magic man frogs? I've been sick as hell this week and I will lick the hell out of that frog.
Imagine. You have the flu, and so you feel terrible. Your skin hurts, your body aches, your nose runs.
Go to the doctor and he gives you a prescription. One South Indian frog, to be licked three times daily, with frog face rubbing just before bedtime.
You Want Me To What?? I thought this was supposed to make me feel better, but this is so much worse!
We already have a non-toxic molecule able to efficiently prevent flu, it is called vitamin D.