Bees may help fight deadly infections

[Ed Barrow]

Scientists looking for new treatments to fight a deadly drug-resistant infection say they may have found a new ally -- bees.

A substance known as beeglue or propolis, found in beehives, was found to be effective against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium that causes several difficult-to-treat infections in humans, a release Monday from Scotland's University of Strathclyde said.

"MRSA can have a devastating impact on people who contract it and on their families, often compounding illnesses they already have," said Dr. Veronique Seidel, a lecturer in natural products chemistry at Strathclyde.

"We investigated propolis because bees use it as an antiseptic glue to seal gaps between honeycombs and preserve their hives from microbial contamination," she said.


http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/06/28/Bees-may-help-fight-deadly-infections/UPI-36601277756699/

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. Great.

First we kill off all the bees, THEN we find out they can protect us from MRSA.

[tabatha]

2. Some of the usefulness of propolis has been known for awhile.

It is often put into toothpaste, cough drops, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propolis

[msongs]

3. nah we can get dow and monsanto to make the stuff artificially from HF corn syrup nt

[sarge43]

4. Honey itself has natural antibacterial properties.

The reason it doesn't spoil.

[xchrom]

5. Bees are amazing. Nt

[BrklynLiberal]

6. Honey has long been known as a natural antibiotic..

http://www.envivant.com/2007/03/25/honey-a-natural-antibiotic-and-antioxidant/