Louisiana State University and McNeese State University researchers have found that proteins in alligator blood may provide a source of new antibiotics to help fight infections.

Alligators have an unusually strong immune system that is very different from that of humans. It fights microorganisms such as fungi, viruses, and bacteria without having prior exposure to them.

Proteins extracted from their white blood cells (leucocytes) killed a wide range of bacteria, including MRSA, and killed six out of eight different strains of the fungus Candida albicans.