Komodo Dragon blood may hold the key to fighting infectionsApril 15, 2017 - 14:06 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Komodo Dragon blood could save your life. Curious scientists -- are there any other kind? -- recently identified a peptide in the Dragon plasma that might serve as an antibiotic. Now, a bite from a Komodo Dragon is lethal not from venom, but from bacteria in the reptile's saliva, and the Dragons don't kill each other when they get into tussles the way they do hunting prey, which suggests an immunity. So the researchers, inspired by previous work done with alligators and crocodiles, made a synthetic version of a peptide (a chain of amino acids) found in Dragon's plasma, VK25, Engadget said. The hope is to use the lab-designed peptide, DRGN-1, as a topical antibiotic. "DRGN-1 exhibited promising antimicrobial and anti-biofilm properties," the paper reads. "Moreover, the DRGN-1 peptide significantly promoted wound healing in vitro and in vivo, in both uninfected and mixed biofilm infected wounds." In their experiments, the scientists saw that DRGN-1-treated sores experienced "accelerated skin wound closure and healing." What's more, it culled the amount of bacteria in the wounds of infected mice. We're likely to hear a lot more about DRGN-1 in the future as the recent experiments only tested a third of the pathogens known to infect wounds, Engadget said. Photo: Reuters Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |