January 24, 2005

Clamming Up the Terrorists

Justin Katz

They may have invested millions in acquisition and sacrificed hundreds of lives, but there's one thing that the terrorists haven't counted on:

... the latest example of the sea's, or at least the coast's, medical potential comes from researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. There, scientists, working under a grant from the Department of Homeland Security, dosed quahogs with the botulism toxin. They discovered that something from the shellfish neutralized the poisonous enzyme, a potential bio-terrorism agent.

Bal Ram Singh, a chemist, and his colleagues increased the dose until it was enough to paralyze and kill the population of a town of 1,000 people. But the botulism has little effect on the clams, except to cause them to secrete a mucous that turned the water they were in cloudy.

I don't imagine many men and women of our armed services would mind a steady supply of my mother-in-law's stuffies. And I can only hope that initial plans are underway to equip each EMT vehicle with a pot of chowder.

Comments, although monitored, are not necessarily representative of the views Anchor Rising's contributors or approved by them. We reserve the right to delete or modify comments for any reason.

Once a 'mucous clam' fishery is established in the currently closed to shell fishing areas of Narragansett Bay and coastal Massachusetts, if more production area is needed, here's a possibility:

http://www.vdh.state.va.us/OEHS/Shellfish/pdf/Lancaster/cond017-188.pdf

regards,

Steevil (URI '73)

Posted by: steevil (Dr Weevil's bro Steve) at January 24, 2005 6:14 PM