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Why Some Civil War Soldiers Glowed in the Dark
- BrandonMarc 13y agoMostly-harmless (to humans) bacteria that release crude antibiotics in order to kill competing bacteria ... Now that's impressive. The glowing part is an amazing add-on, helping the symbiotic relationship with the parasitic micro-worms the bacteria live in/with.
- coupdejarnac 13y agoI wonder if the chemicals produced by the bacteria could be synthesized and made into a useful medicine. Perhaps useful for immunocompromised patients?
- forktheif 13y agoThat's where a lot of antibiotics come from. Antibiotics that have names ending in -mycin often come from bacteria.
- JulianMorrison 13y agoI wonder if human-caused antibiotic resistance turns around and harms the critters who were originally using that antibiotic as self defense?
- BrandonMarc 13y agoThanks for that. Is it also true that those ending in -icillin (amoxicillin, penicillin, etc) come from fungi - a major competitor to bacteria? Or am I mistaken?
- deeths 13y agoI'm uncertain if anyone is synthesizing this particular bacteria's antibiotic, but there's some research in using it as a natural insecticide: http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Photorhabdus_luminescens http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Photorhabdus_lumines...