Chloe Groeneveld
Mar 13, 2024
A tale as old as time in ancient Russia and Finland has revealed to us that Russian brown frogs were put in milk to keep the milk from going sour. Sounds crazy and disgusting right? As much as it might not be the best sanitary way to keep milk from spoiling nowadays-with how much technology has grown-scientists have studied this tale and have concluded many important discoveries. In the Russian brown frog's skin secretion, it is found that there are numerus antibiotic substances. The peptides found in their secretion are found to have antibacterial properties for more than 76 different substances that may benefit the creation of new prescription medications. In 2010 United Arab Emirates researchers found that more than 100 antibiotic substances can be found in most frogs’ secretions. Frogs' secretions are how these amphibians stay healthy in their natural habitats, allowing them to fight off bacteria that grows around them. Fun fact! A secretion was tested on the Acinetobacter baumannii, or also known as “Iraqibacter” (a fast growing pathogen that has a high resistance to antibiotics, growing in the Middle East. This pathogen causes a wide variety of diseases ranging from lung infections to urinary tract infections) and turns out it has potential to debunk this nasty superbug. Another research was done at Moscow State University and found that some secretions have the potential to fight off Salmonella (a bacteria that may be found in a variety of foods) and Staphylococcus (a bacteria that is found on the bodies of healthy people but may cause infections). Scientists are quickly connecting the frogs’ use of their skin secretions to possibly creating vital medicines and antibiotics for human health! Who would’ve thought that an old far fetch tales of putting a frog in milk would lead to so many beneficial discoveries?! It’s TOADALLY awesome!
https://www.treehugger.com/if-your-fridge-dies-should-you-put-frogs-in-your-milk-4868045