Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to "an aesthetic decision"

I did write a paper for A&P class.
Lee — (archived)

Not on the full spectrum of my ideas but on one particular subject. Seems that members of the crocodilian family possess an anti-microbial peptide in their blood stream which is effective against almost all known harmful bacteria strains. While living in stale and rancid water, crocs very rarely fall victim to infections, even after sustaining massive wounds in battle with others of their kind. There is an effort to develop this substance, called crocodillin, into drugs for Human consumption. My idea was to isolate the gene or genes that produce this substance and implant them directly into people. Why develop drugs that treat dangerous infections after they occur when we could have this protection every day of our lives?

Crocs have been around for several hundred million years, and in all that time their defenses have remained intact against bacterial assault. Our best antibiotics have been around for only a few decades and are already showing signs of being rendered useless. By giving Humanity a very small slice of croc dna, we could improve the health of our species to a degree few would've even thought possible.

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