so, i was reading mental floss, and i came across an article about how cockroaches have super antibiotics:

Quote:

Cockroaches take advantage of our messy hospitality, skulking around in the cracks and holes of our houses and devouring the scraps we leave behind. Soon, though, maybe we’ll be the ones taking advantage of their fondness for filth. The brains of these insects carry some serious antibiotics—strong enough to slaughter bacteria that have evolved resistance to the hospital antibiotics we use. The researchers presented their work at the Society for General Microbiology meeting this week in England, and say that while the finding is terrific, it’s no surprise given the roaches’ living circumstances: “Some of these insects live in the filthiest places ever known to man,” says Naveed Khan, coauthor of the new study. “These insects crawl on dead tissue, in sewage, in drainage areas. We thought, ‘How do they cope with all the bacteria and parasites?’” [Science News] The scientist extracted cockroach brains, as well as neural tissue from locusts, and found them saturated with at least nine molecules that acted as antibiotics. In lab tests, the cockroach antibiotics laid waste to resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). In separate tests, they didn’t appear to bother human cells, either. “We hope that these molecules could eventually be developed into treatments for E. coli and MRSA infections that are increasingly resistant to current drugs,” said study team member Simon Lee. [MSNBC] Eventually is the key word—the team is still working just to identify all the molecules at play here. And they don’t know all the mechanics of how these insects muster their defenses: whether the molecules work together in concert, for instance. For more about cockroach brains, check out our zombie animals photo gallery to see the wasp that injects venom into roach brains and turns them into zombies. Or, if you’d rather not think about disgusting insects any more before the weekend, we understand.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/09/10/cockroaches-have-super-antibiotics-in-their-brains-we-must-steal-them/

personally, i think this is fucking amazing. who knew those dirty, gross little fuckers actually had a purpose in this world. my hate for them has gone down a little. i will still kill them, but i will probably say 'peace be with you' before i do it.

heres another article on that:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-07/cockroach-brains-may-be-a-source-of-antibiotics-research-says.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/09/100909-cockroach-brains-mrsa-ecoli-antibiotics-science-health/

Jack Slater wrote:

Doddsino wrote: No, but over time they can develop immunities to those pesticides resulting in the usage of stronger chemicals. Not this pesticide, buddy. It doesn't just kill, it causes genetic mutations that result in the eggs left behind hatching a bunch of nutless Sloth-like abortions that cannot reproduce. End of infestation. Plus, it's organic.

yeah, the theory still holds though. supposedly those cockroaches will evolve into super cockroaches that are resistant to that pesticide.

kind of like germs evolve into super germs if you use too much hand sanitizer.

or some BS like that.