Could Gulf Oil Spill Kill Cure for Malaria, Cancer Treatments? | TakePart Social Action Network: Important Issues, Activism, Environmental, Human Rights, Political News: "The Gulf oil spill could wipe out a potential cure for malaria and treatments for cancer and other diseases by killing off marine organisms that are the basis of experimental drugs, researchers in Florida said Thursday.
The spill, now more than two months old, revealed another sinister side effect this week as researchers prepared to examine the impact the oil will have on sponges, sea worms and other invertebrates that are the source of possible drugs—and live in the slick's path.
A number of modern drug treatments are based on compounds produced by marine organisms. Many of these organisms live in small, unique locales. Once killed off by something like the oil spill, their potential research contributions could be lost to medical science forever.
Scientists are worried because of the rich sea life found in the Gulf of Mexico.
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