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0 pointsnkozyra10y ago0 comments

Maybe, maybe not. Keep in mind that as a biological actor, garlic and other allicin-containing substances have the ability to adapt generationally to meet changes in bacteria. That's an advantage that is not innate to our own antibiotics.

Also, that allicin kills MRSA is not news by any measure. Here's an article from 2008:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/health/article127...

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ars10y ago

They don't just magically adapt because they are being used. To adapt they would have to be attacked by bacteria, and only the stronger ones survive, but MRSA doesn't attack onions.

sthreet10y ago

They could adapt because humans only grow the ones that are the better of the batch at doing what we want them to do. I can't see it working as fast as bacteria, but it could be another option.

azakai10y ago

It seems like it should be at pretty much the same speed, if an equal size amount of garlic plants were being attacked by MRSA. Doesn't matter if natural selection of human-guided selection does the culling.

I suppose it might be expensive to grow lots and lots of garlic plants and test them all for efficacy, though.

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matznerd10y ago

The story was more about the combination of the ingredients called "eye salve." Which includes more than just garlic, but also wine and cow bile.

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