Expert instinct : do animals have medical secrets?.

Some animals have a remarkable ability to heal themselves. Could these methods work for humans? The VIETNAMESE POT BELLIED PIG develops skin cancers, some 4cm across. These could be fatal in a human. However, frequently these tumours suddenly disappear. How does it happen? These pigs have some special immune system. FROGS, too, can heal themselves from serious abdominal wounds, even when in a squalid tank. Michael Zazlov, was astonished by his frogs, whose wounds did not fester, and has discovered they have chemicals at the wound site - an antibiotic he has called 'meganin'. He is trying to exploit this commercially. Do animals have special knowledge about medicinally useful plants. Manuel Arguillan investigated chimps eating the Aspinia plant with its hairy leaves rolled up. He found antibiotics which may affect nematodes. Richard Rangam disagrees and thinks the hairy leaf traps nematodes in the gut, so it is a physical effect, not chemical. George Lazano is totally sceptical as there are no controlled experiments. Andrew Wighton studies gorillas eating the Venonia plant. It is possible that generations of a successful species have selected some plants prophylactically.