The New Argument for Drinking Panda Blood: Antibiotic Superpowers
So what do you do with an endangered giant panda population that’s really difficult and really expensive to conserve, let alone increase? Drink their blood for the health benefits, of course!
Well, maybe not drink exactly. According to the Telegraph, scientists have discovered the bears produce a powerful antibiotic compound in their blood — cathelicidin-AM — which could be used to create potent new treatments against drug-resistant superbugs. Luckily, the compound has been successfully synthesized in the lab, so no panda blood-letting or mass-sacrifice will be necessary for its continued research — though the discovery will hopefully garner enough attention to ensure continued panda conservation efforts, as the study was probably intended to do, considering cathelicidin has been studied for years and is actually produced in the blood of many mammals, including ours.
Or we could take HANKHILL’s advice, provided on Newser after he discovered how powerful panda blood could be against curing illness:
Can you say Panda Express, Paleo-Style?
