A Flea In Your Artery

It seems that protein resilin that allows fleas to accelerate 50 times faster than the space shuttle may have uses in the treatment of human diseases. The resilin gene from fruit flies has been inserted into bacteria allowing the production of large amounts of the protein with its amazing mechanical properties.

Possible therapeutic applications include use of resilin in the treatment of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and aortic aneurysm (where the wall of the artery is weakened, bulges, and may rupture).

It certainly sounds as if we can expect patients to bounce back to health post-operatively (Ho! Ho!)!