When I think of ticks, I think of Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Neither one of those is something you'd want to catch. New research may show ticks can be beneficial to mankind, however.
Brazilian researchers have identified a protein in the saliva of a common South American tick, Amblyomma cajennense, that apparently reduces and can even eradicate cancer cells. At the same time, healthy cells are unaffected.
Ana Marisa Chudzinski-Tavassi, the molecular biologist at the Instituto Butantan in Sao Paulo who is leading the research said she was testing the anti-coagulant properties of the tick’s saliva when she stumbled on the discovery.
Much like other blood sucking insects and animals such as mosquitoes and vampire bats, the saliva of a tick contains an anti-coagulent that keeps the blood from clotting, and thus keeps it flowing.
The protein, dubbed Factor X active, surprised researchers with its efficiency, and its safety.
“To our surprise it didn’t kill normal cells, which were also tested. But it did kill the tumorous cells that were being analyzed.
“If I treat every day for 14 days an animal’s tumor, a small tumor, this tumor doesn’t develop — it even regresses. The tumor mass shrinks. If I treat for 42 days, you totally eliminate the tumor.”
Quite naturally, while the discovery is impressive, turning it into a real product will take years. Expect a lot of bloated ticks in research labs during that time.
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