Crickey! That Croc's Gonna Explode

A recent Slashdot post mentions a new possible way to fight HIV: Crocodile blood. Aparantly, thousands of years of evolution in a swamp has generated a blue-ribbon immune system. Not only that, but it has the makings of a hollywood blockbuster. Consider this excerpt from the article

Britton said the crocodile immune system worked differently from the human system by directly attacking bacteria immediately an infection occurred in the body.

"The crocodile has an immune system which attaches to bacteria and tears it apart and it explodes. It's like putting a gun to the head of the bacteria and pulling the trigger," he said.

However, as with all medical science, there are issues

"We may be able to have antibiotics that you take orally, potentially also antibiotics that you could run topically on wounds, say diabetic ulcer wounds; burn patients often have their skin infected and things like that," said Merchant.

However, the crocodile's immune system may be too powerful for humans and may need to be synthesized for human consumption.

"There is a lot of work to be done. It may take years before we can get to the stage where we have something to market," said Britton.

Maybe we should test it first on a cloned human-crocodile. It is a great day to be a Crocodile Hunter.