Posted on 08/28/2009 4:45:55 AM PDT by decimon
It may be one of nature's repulsive little blood-sucking parasites, but the humble tick could yield a future cure for cancers of the skin, liver and pancreas, Brazilian researchers have discovered.
They have identified a protein in the saliva of a common South American tick, Amblyomma cajennense, that apparently reduces and can even eradicate cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells alone.
"This is a radical innovation," said Ana Marisa Chudzinski-Tavassi, the molecular biologist at the Instituto Butantan in Sao Paulo who is leading the research.
"The component of the saliva of this tick... could be the cure for cancer," she told AFP.
(Excerpt) Read more at physorg.com ...
It’s getting them to drool that is going to cost a trillion dollars.
There ain't no ticks on me
There might be ticks on some of them chicks
but there ain't no ticks on me
They drool all too well when they get on you. I'm in Lyme Disease Central but haven't had a problem with ticks. My bird feeders might account for that.
Tick Ping.
We live right in Tick Central (Tennessee). We’ll all be Rich! (and then we’ll be taxed at 85%...never mind.)
Well, you know the old saying: “A little tick saliva goes a long way.”
Actually, I’m tick and tired of all this saliva talk. Let’s sick if these ticks can walk the walk, er, or crawl the crawl, er...
Never mind.
I spit on your ticks. Oh, maybe I should let the ticks spit on me.
sw
ping
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