Trials of Anthrax Antidote Show Promise
From Times staff and wire reports
An experimental anthrax antidote has protected rats injected with the bacterium’s deadly toxin, researchers said in this month’s issue of Nature Biotechnology.
The research targets anthrax’s late stage, which is beyond treatment and often is fatal. Anthrax infection can be treated with antibiotics in its early stages, but victims rarely know they are infected until it’s too late, after the anthrax bacteria have flooded the bloodstream with three deadly toxins.
The University of Texas researchers reported that they genetically engineered a mouse protein that intercepts the toxins before they can reach their usual target of healthy blood cells.
