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News Briefs 03-01-2013

Ok, let’s see if I remember how this was done –after all, I haven’t written the News Briefs around here since 2012!

Thanks to Quetzalcóatl for being, like all Mexicans, a procrastinator.

Quote of the Day:

“A beginning is a very delicate time.”

~Frank Herbert, “Dune”

  1. Panda-monium
    re: Panda blood antibiotic.

    [quote=]Thankfully, the scientists don’t have to raise a bunch of pandas in order to keep up the supply of cathelicidin-AM. Yan and colleagues have figured out a way to synthesize the compound artificially in a lab.[/quote]

    The compound in Asiatic black bear bile is also widely and cheaply available in synthetic form, but over 16,000 bears continue to be enslaved and tortured. The fact that rhinoceros horn is the same material as human fingernails hasn’t stopped the faithful of traditional Asian medicines from bankrolling the extinction of this magnificent animal.

    The one thing that may save the panda from a similar fate to the moon bears, rhinos, and tigers, is that it’s such an iconic animal and the face of the World Wildlife Fund. Going by the precedent of moon bears however, I suspect there will be poaching in the near future because ignorant people will believe only the real deal will cure their impotence.

    1. indeed
      but the reason these people still make money off the poor creatures is not because they aren’t aware of the artificially created one, but because superstition and stupidity can make a lot of money.

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