SCIENCE

Mythology is rich with tales of dragons and the magical properties of their blood. Well, a new study indicates that the blood of the Komodo dragon is, in fact, loaded with proteins that could be used as antibiotics. Giant dragon versus superbug. (The Economist)

Why are antibiotics so important these days?

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Komodo dragons are the largest lizards on Earth, reaching lengths of 3 meters (10 feet) and weighing up to 70 kilograms (150 pounds).
Photograph by Stefano Unterthiner, National Geographic

Discussion Ideas

• New research on properties of Komodo dragon blood was published in The Journal of Proteome Research. What is a proteome and why is it being researched?
  • A proteome is the entire set of proteins expressed by a genome. In fact, proteome is a portmanteau—a word made by combining parts of…