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April 6, 2008

| Four Days in Denver >>

Alligator Blood Beats Supergerms!

From EurekAlert, the wire service of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (and one of my fave RSS feeds): Alligator blood may put the bite on antibiotic-resistant infections.

Turns out alligators have incredible immune systems:

Previous studies by Merchant showed that alligators have an unusually strong immune system that is very different from that of humans. Unlike people, alligators can fight microorganisms such as fungi, viruses, and bacteria without having prior exposure to them. Scientists believe that this is an evolutionary adaptation to promote quick wound healing, as alligators are often injured during fierce territorial battles.

But the crucial thing is that this is obviously the origin story for The Alligator, who would probably be a Spider-Man villain. Brilliant scientist working on super drug, driven to experiment on himself, etc., etc., but then the alligator DNA takes overrrrrGRAHHH!

Or maybe, uh, it would go more like this:

[D]on’t try to create your own home-remedies using alligator blood, as raw, unprocessed blood could make you sick or even kill you if injected, the researcher cautions.

Noted.

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Posted April 6, 2008 at 10:40 | Comments (5) | Permasnark
File under: Briefly Noted

Comments

Seriously, no comments on this?

The Alligator, people! He'd have a torn lab coat... AND THE FACE OF AN ALLIGATOR.

See, I keep trying to figure out if there actually IS such a supervillain. The image is so deeply imprinted in my subconscious that I believe there has to be.

Aha!

Curtis Connors was born in Coral Gables, Florida. He was a gifted surgeon who enlisted in the army and was sent off to war. He performed emergency battlefield surgery on wounded GIs, but his right arm was injured in a blast and had to be amputated. After his return to civilian life as a research technologist, he became obsessed with uncovering the secrets of reptilian limb regeneration and studied reptilian biology extensively. From his home in the Florida Everglades, he finally developed an experimental serum taken from reptilian DNA. He successfully regrew the missing limb of a rabbit and then, despite the warnings of his wife Martha, chose to test it on himself. Connors ingested the formula and his missing arm did indeed grow back. The formula had a horrible side effect; Connors was subsequently transformed into a reptilian humanoid monster.

Even better:

Doctor Curtis Connors gave himself superhuman powers as a result of exposure to mutagenic chemicals, allowing him to transform into the Lizard. In human form, he has none of these powers. However, he is highly intelligent and studied in the fields of genetics, biochemistry, and herpetology.

When Connors is transformed into the Lizard, his strength is increased to superhuman levels. Likewise, his speed, stamina, agility and reflexes are also raised to a level equivalent to that of Spider-Man. He can also scale walls using a combination of the scores of sharp tiny claws on his hands and feet to create adhesive pads like those of a gecko lizard, and micro-scales that create molecular friction. He is highly resistant to injury due to his thick scaly hide, allowing him to resist punctures and lacerations from ordinary weapons and lower-caliber firearms. In addition, the Lizard has highly enhanced healing abilities which allow him to quickly recover from grievous wounds, including regenerating lost limbs. He also has a powerful tail which he can whip at high speeds. The Lizard has razor-sharp teeth set in muscular jaws that can deal a lethal bite. Like a reptile, he has cold-blooded characteristics and is therefore sensitive to drops in temperature; a sufficiently cold environment will cause his metabolism to slow drastically and become dormant if he is exposed to cold temperatures for too long.

The Lizard can mentally communicate and command all reptiles within a mile of himself via limited telepathy. He has also on at least one occasion secreted powerful pheromones which caused nearby humans to behave violently.

Based on various physiological and environmental factors, the Lizard's intelligence can range from bestial and animalistic to normal human intelligence. The Lizard personality has most often manifested with human intelligence, capable of speech and higher reasoning. However, the Lizard is rarely as intelligent as Dr. Connors is in human form.

Ah hahahahahaha... yes, of course, "The Lizard." Totally forgot. And yet, obviously, of course, somehow totally remembered as well.

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