If you thought that human beings were the only ones that had the capacity to produce our medicines to protect us from viruses and keep the population well, you're wrong: the ants do it too , surprised?
It turns out that some species of these insects produce antimicrobials , which are chemical compounds that kill pathogens. Scientists do not know how common this practice is among other insects.
How was the discovery?
In a study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science , it was described that scientists observed different species and realized that not all of them produce antimicronics.
Of the total that they had under surveillance, only 60% used these agents to increase the immunity of their colony.
Where do antimicronics get?
According to the observations of the researchers, the antibiotic can be obtained from antimicrobial bacteria, for example:
Leaf cutter ants grow bacteria in their bodies that protect them against infection by parasites.
Other species produce antimicronics from different internal glands or harvest the ingredients of the materials in their habitats.
However, one more aspect that impressed the scientists was the fact that the bees took care of each other : the compound they shared with the rest of their colony.
Something else that caused surprise was that not necessarily the largest ants were those who would produce the antimicronianos , because the most powerful was made by one of the smallest that was under observation.
Despite these findings, the authors still can not find the pattern that will tell them what species of these insects are those that produce the antibiotic. So they continue to investigate, because they believe that it is a door that opens to delve into new methods that could work to protect humans from pathogens.