Why Are Roaches So Tough? And Can We Learn From Them?

Many people may have heard that cockroaches are pretty resilient creatures. They can thrive in the most unsanitary conditions without compromising their own good health. For ages researchers and entomologists have been puzzled over the cockroaches ability to live despite the external, or internal environmental conditions. Luckily, it seems as though the riddle may have finally been solved as a team of researchers discovered antibacterial molecules in the brain of the common cockroach.

It is easy to see why an animal would be so resilient to bacteria and disease when the contents of its innards include nine different antibiotic molecules. The antibiotic molecules contained within roaches, and locusts as well it turns out, are far more effective at killing bacteria than the antibiotics currently on the market for human use. Researchers are currently working on ways to best procure the antibiotic compounds from roach brains. Putting these super-powerful next generation roach based antibiotics on the market can save many people who die of infectious diseases.

Why would roaches have evolved internal bodily chemicals that are also antibacterial?