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Bacteria found in bees show potential as an alternative to antibiotics
Fiona MacDonald
Wednesday, 10 September 2014
Scientists have shown that a unique group of bacteria found in the stomach of bees can fight antibiotic-resistant superbugs in the lab.
Antibiotic resistance is an increasingly serious problem in the western world, and in April this year, the World Health Organisation declared it a major threat to public health. For centuries, people have used raw honey to help fight infections, but scientists have struggled to figure out what gives it its antimicrobial properties.
Now a team of researchers from Lund University in Sweden has identified a unique group of 13 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that come from the honey stomach of bees, and are found in fresh honey, that have an impressive ability to fight pathogens. The honey stomach is one of two stomachs found in bees, and it stores nectar, which worker bees later suck out and store in the hive.
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20141009-26155.html
