Posted on 04/18/2017 12:49:08 PM PDT by Red Badger
he mucus of a rare frog that lurks in the South Indian jungle could provide the basis of a powerful new class of drugs to combat influenza, scientists have said.
The bright orange tennis ball-sized Hydrophylax bahuvistara was found to contain “host defence peptides” that proved able to destroy numerous strains of human flu, whilst protecting normal cells.
Researchers are excited because the peptide showed it could bind to a protein that is identical across “dozens” of strains of the disease, increasing its potential potency as a drug.
People would be advised to treat the Keralan amphibian with caution, however, as three out of four of the peptides found in the mucus were found to be toxic to humans.
Scientists at Emory University named the beneficial element "urumin", which can be isolated, after the a sword with a flexible blade that snaps and bends like a whip, which comes from the same Indian province.
“It’s a natural innate immune mediator that all living organisms maintain,” said Josh Jacob, who co-authored the study at Emory University, Georgia.
“We just happened to find one that the frog makes that just happens to be effective against the H1 influenza type.”
The virus needs hemagglutinin to get inside human cells.
The peptide works by binding to the hemagglutinin, destabilizes the virus and then kills it.
"I was almost knocked off my chair," says Jacob.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I didn’t even read the article yet.
I just LOVE the phrase “frog snot” because it’s my hillbilly version of saying bullsh*t.
:D
thanks, I’ll just deal with the flu.
I say ‘Dog Snot!’ every time my Chihuahua sneezes.....................
I wonder if it would be effective against HIV?....................
Now I’m really hungry! The shipworm was just an appetizer! Spread some frog snot on some Ritz Crackers for me please?
That’s sick and awesome
well was it a rumor that some in the 70’s were licking the psychoactive toads to get high
And I’ve always wondered WHO was the first to try it and WHY?..................
If you step on a frog, blame the dog.
Anyone else remember when the DEA put a certain species of desert toad on the list of illegal hallucinogenics because someone discovered that the eye discharge of the little devils would produce a highly developed hallucogin.
I never understood why this would be a problem for the DEA to worry about since it seemed perfectly clear to me that finding drug dealers and buyers for the product would be few and far between.
I foresaw lots of problems. 1. What would it go for? $5 per lick of the toad?
2. How could it be enforced. (Honest, officer, that toad just came hoppin’ by. It don’t belong to me.)
It was Homer. It was always Homer.
Plus the officer would have to positively identify the exact species of toad....................
“Plus the officer would have to positively identify the exact species of toad....” I suppose the officer could field test it, but an undercover agent would be immediately knocked off if he refused to take a lick.
And then there would be the problem of maintaining the evidence in the evidence room. I can see where hundreds, maybe thousands of toads decomposing while awaiting trial could be messy.
Here in Florida we have small green tree frogs that sometimes get into your car’s AC ductwork and die. The smell is atrocious and difficult to get rid of............
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