How Did They Know Where to Look?
Turns out that a highly potent antibiotic is a by-product of muskrat feces. Discovered by a team from Pusan National University in South Korea, it kills Salmonella (the pathogen that causes food poisoning), Staph. aureus (which causes opportunistic infections) and has been found to kill termites!
The process involves drying the feces (in the shade – not the sun!), treating it with an organic solvent and then filtering and concentrating the extract in a vacuum.
As fascinating as this is, I can’t help wondering who thought of checking muskrat feces? I mean, how did they know where to look?
You can read about it in New Scientist and if you’re really have some time to kill, the patent describes the process, claims and description in more detail – and it actually makes for interesting, entertaining reading!
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