science chloramphenicol good for frogs

SCIENCE: Chloramphenicol, Good for the Frogs

Posted by yeastbeast at 12:10 PM

Over the last few decades, global frog supplies have been ravaged by a

plague of weird chitrid fungus. A popular theory to explain the

massive frog die-off invokes the exquisite sensitivity of amphibians

to environmental pollutants, but is unclear how putative toxins would

promote fungal infestation. Now, the plot thickens with the discovery

that chloramphenicol, an old school antibiotic used to treat diseases

caused by Gram-positive bacteria, cures frogs of their chitrid woes.

Kiwi scientists immersed sick frogs in a chloramphencol bath and

observed miraculous recoveries, leading them to get the word out ahead

of publication. I anticipate troupes of do-gooders going around the

world's marshes with buckets of chloramphenicol solution, soaking all

frogs in their path. The mystery is why a drug whose molecular

mechanism specifically targets bacteria and doesn't work against fungi