DrBabbage

DrBabbage t1_izcm3hi wrote

Reply to Have living things always had an immune system? How did they survive / evolve to deal with diseases, and how does that compare to modern immune systems? by bruceleroy99

Some older species Like the horseshoe crab are still alive. The blood coagulates and for this, they are mercilesly hunted down and milked or drained completely. The blood is also made with copper as a base material. Fascinating creatures.

EDIT: Okay I thought I made things clear and easy enough to understand. Horseshoe crabs have very sensitive blood that clots up (coagulates) when it comes in contact with bacteria. Their blood is based on copper (Hemocyanin), unlike ours which is based on Hemoglobin or iron. Having the blood based on copper and clogging it up makes the blood very anti bacterial and is one of the earliest types of an immune system we know predating dinosaurs by a long shot. They are mercilessly hunted down to test vaccines since their blood clogs up in presence of bacteria but they are also eaten or used as fish bait.

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DrBabbage t1_irz4vog wrote

Reply to comment by OmarLittleFinger in "New antibiotic hiding in diseased potatoes thwarts fungal infections in plants and humans" by tonymmorley

  1. Its relatively easy to make UV Leds that don't hurt people (UVA) while it is very hard to make LEDs that can do UVC to kill germs or fuck up your skin or retina. There are some LEDs http://www.cel.com/pdf/press/cel_uvc-leds_03262019.pdf but the output is low and they are expensive and inefficient CFL is much better at that job.

  2. Phage therapy is ancient. The soviets experimented a lot with that. It was phased out by antibiotics.

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