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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Billion-year-old Bacteria Could be Medical Goldmine | Fox News Latino

Billion-year-old Bacteria Could be Medical Goldmine | Fox News Latino: n the warm waters off Craig Key, Hendrik Luesch, a UF College of Pharmacy associate professor, is snorkeling for algae.

"That's a Cyanobacteria, exactly the stuff we were looking for,” Luesch said. “It's not visually appealing but very useful.”

The cyanobacteria are slimy and are thought to cradle an active ingredient essential for next-generation cancer drugs.

"The ocean itself holds great promise to if not cure, treat a variety of diseases," Luesch said.

Luesch and his team of researchers harvest Cyanobacteria in Ziploc bags and collect it by the bucket full before taking it back to their Gainesville lab.

The bacteria are survivors and fighters. Scientists believe they've fended off prey for billions of years.

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