This is a guest post composed as part of the NSF Science: Becoming the Messenger workshop, Lawrence KS January 27, 2011
Without a doubt: Hyenas have significant PR issues…Disney is, at least in recent times, guilty of making these animals appear nothing except foolish and useless…. simply put there’s never really been much effort dedicated towards “saving the hyenas”…
Like with all stories, there is, however, a different side to this. Hyenas are actually incredibly adaptable to overcome changes in their environment, and importantly they’re amazingly capable of resisting infections. Although hyenas are highly skilled hunters, they are also renowned as scavengers that feed of off carcasses filled with huge loads of pathogens that would kill most other types of living beings – humans included… So, why should any of us even care about the health of hyenas? In fact, how hyenas defend themselves against infections hold important answers to how “super-bugs” might be overcome. In short, the hyena - despite its poor reputation within the general public - may turn out as an important resource for improving human health…. Many type of infections are becoming increasingly resistant to commercially available antibiotics, which is creating a need for new and improved drugs. Our team is working on translating small molecules from hyena saliva into clinically useful new drugs to treat multi-drug resistant bugs to help improve human health. Who knows, one of the most “unappreciated species on Earth” might end with a record-number of “FaceBook” friends… Annika Linde
