Scientists Search for Underwater Cures

July 29, 2008— -- Deep in the bayous of East Texas, a search light scans the darkness. While this may seem like an odd place to advance medical science, biochemist Mark Merchant aims to do just that, here in the swamps and marshlands.

"We are shining this spotlight across the marsh to shine in alligators' eye[s]," Merchant, who teaches at McNeese State University, told ABC News' Jeffrey Kofman. Not only are the eyes of alligators reflective but night is their feeding time, making this the perfect time to go looking for them. Kofman joined Dr. Merchant on a nighttime trip through the swamps, searching the marsh for alligators.

Merchant believes the blood of 'gators may contain properties which would translate well into new medicines to combat human diseases.

"We think that their lifestyle that they've lived for many many millions of years has led to the evolution [of] an immune system that is really really special," Merchant explained. "That prevents them from being infected, and we are thinking that maybe we can tap into that for modern molecular medicine."

It is for this reason that Merchant and his team search the marsh for alligators, hoping to gain a few samples of their blood. The alligators have lived violent lives in these swamps for thousands of years, constantly suffering injuries yet still managing to heal without infection. Merchant thinks that unlocking the healing components of alligator blood could help humans.

"We certainly think this could help a variety of diseases but particularly those that are antibiotic resistant," he said.

After catching the gators Merchant and his team wrestle to tape the animal's jaws shut to avoid getting hurt. They then collect a quick sample of the blood before releasing the creatures back into the wild.

Back in the lab at McNeese State University in Louisiana, Merchant isolated the peptides in alligator blood he had collected. A few drops of plasma in a Petri dish of bacteria showed the potential.

"Bacteria has been applied to the entire plate but where I applied the blood product in the middle the bacteria is dead," Merchant says, explaining a clear circle in the middle of the dish.

For generations, medical scientists have been looking towards the plant world in search of cures for human maladies, but recently they have turned to the animal kingdom.

Just two years ago ABC News went to the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Fort Lauderdale aboard a biomedical research submarine. Kofman boarded the sub and teamed up with researchers in search of exotic sea creatures that they hoped would advance medicinal drugs.

Two years after that team collected sponges from the bottom of the Atlantic, researchers found that one of the chemicals in those sponges yielded a new compound that keeps cancer cells from reproducing. The next step was an artificially replicated compound created by a pharmaceutical company, which could eventually lead to a drug that may slow or stop the growth of a tumor. This drug is still years from the market but the promising research is a step in the right direction.

At the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine Science other medical research is being performed. Aplysia californica, a form of sea slugs, are bred at the rate of about 25,000 a year for medical researchers around the world.

Scientists are particularly drawn to these slugs because of their easy-to-study, simple nervous system. Specifically the changes the slug's brains go through as they age interests the scientists, as they believe this could provide clues about human brain progression.

"We're interested in Alzheimer's disease and how the function of cells within the brain changes when an animal ages," Lynne Fieber, an associate professor of marine biology and a neurophysiologist, told Kofman during his visit.

For the time being this marine research will continue. It seems that all these creatures could potentially hold the cures we are looking for. These animals, slimy or scary as they may seem, could prove to be man's best friend.