How Frogs Preserved Milk Before Refrigerators
- 10 years ago
In Russia and Finland, people would put a living Russian brown frog in their milk so it would stay fresh. Researchers from Moscow State University in Russia have found that frog’s skin secretes peptides, which are antimicrobial compounds that fight off the growth of dangerous bacteria like Salmonella and Staphylococcus.
Before the convenience of refrigerators, people had to be creative to keep food like milk from spoiling.
In Russia and Finland, people would put a living Russian brown frog in their milk so it would stay fresh.
There was no explanation for how this folk remedy worked, until now.
Researchers from Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia have found that frog’s skin secretes peptides that contain antimicrobial compounds to fight off the growth of dangerous bacteria like Salmonella and Staphylococcus.
They attached electrodes to the Russian brown frogs, and applied electro stimulation to activate the skin secretions.
To follow up on the study, the researchers want to see if any of the 76 different peptides they discovered in the frog secretions could be used as antibiotic medication for infection.
According to Jun O. Liu, a professor of pharmacology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: "There are natural substances that work in a lab beautifully but then when you give it to a human it's totally inactive or it's toxic."
So first the peptides have to be created synthetically in a lab, and tested extensively before they can even start to be considered for use on humans.
Before the convenience of refrigerators, people had to be creative to keep food like milk from spoiling.
In Russia and Finland, people would put a living Russian brown frog in their milk so it would stay fresh.
There was no explanation for how this folk remedy worked, until now.
Researchers from Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia have found that frog’s skin secretes peptides that contain antimicrobial compounds to fight off the growth of dangerous bacteria like Salmonella and Staphylococcus.
They attached electrodes to the Russian brown frogs, and applied electro stimulation to activate the skin secretions.
To follow up on the study, the researchers want to see if any of the 76 different peptides they discovered in the frog secretions could be used as antibiotic medication for infection.
According to Jun O. Liu, a professor of pharmacology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: "There are natural substances that work in a lab beautifully but then when you give it to a human it's totally inactive or it's toxic."
So first the peptides have to be created synthetically in a lab, and tested extensively before they can even start to be considered for use on humans.