Killer cockroaches could aid mankind

Tuesday September 7th, 2010

Can anything good come out of a cockroach? Yes, according to British scientists.

And the locust, known mainly for its plagues, may also offer benefits, according to a Nottingham University researcher.

Postgraduate researcher Simon Lee says he has discovered the brains of these unpleasant insects are deadly to common bacteria.

The hospital infection MRSA and the deadly digestive bug E.coli both succumbed to the insect brain cells in laboratory studies - which also suggested they were harmless to humans.

The trials suggested that 90 per cent of bacteria were killed by the brain cells.

So far Mr Lee has identified nine different molecules in the insect brain that are deadly to bacteria.

His findings were revealed at the conference of the Society for General Microbiology in Nottingham.

He said: "We hope that these molecules could eventually be developed into treatments for E. coli and MRSA infections that are increasingly resistant to current drugs. These new antibiotics could potentially provide alternatives to currently available drugs that may be effective but have serious and unwanted side effects."

He added: "Insects often live in unsanitary and unhygienic environments where they encounter many different types of bacteria. It is therefore logical that they have developed ways of protecting themselves against micro-organisms."

Tags: General Health | MRSA & Hygiene | UK News

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