Scientists are hoping experiments
with the western fence lizard might yield a treatment for lyme disease,
a tick-borne illness.
According to an Associated Press
report, it has been known for about a decade that the lizards were immune
to the disease even when infested by ticks. Recent research by Dr. Robert
Lane, published in the Journal of Parasitology, suggests the lizard’s
blood possesses a protein that kills the Lyme disease bacteria.
Lane and other researchers are
now attempting to isolate this protein and find out if there is any possible
application for using it to treat lyme disease in human beings.