The Surprising Ways Animals Self-Medicate

When you feel sick, go to the doctor or reach a large number of drugs, it may seem like a unique human activity. After all, when the last time you saw a pigeon with a bunch of a bark? However, scientists learn without steadfast, the act of medicine – the act of doing something to eliminate or prevent the disease – extends much of mankind.

In the book ahead, Doctors by nature: Ants, monkeys and other animals heal themselvesEmory University Biologist Jaap de Roode receives the reader through a comprehensive world of animal medicine and an entertaining intelligence.

The book, monarch butterflies and young people, a higher level of a toxin, starting with eggs on the moss plants, starting with a research on how to protect young people from parasites. From there, he quotes the work of many other scientists who can apply their medicinal forms of Shimpanze, ants, bees, even pet cats.

Gizmodo, about the inspiration for the book, why the drug among the animals believed in the same time, and said that it is now more than believing in the natural world, which we once recognized the natural world. The following conversation is lightly edited for grammar and clarity.

Ed face, gizmodo: Write a book about animal medication and don’t have to write a book to cover many other animals other than a monarch butterfly?

Jaap de Roode: This is just so cool topic and I have always loved animals. When I first study monarch butterflies, I was met with a lot of resistance when he came with the idea that he could use drugs. And this resistance should really be super smart of animals from this idea and should be super great brains and people can be up to [to use medicine]. Thus, in some ways, I just wanted to demonstrate that this is not the case. In fact, there are so many animals that are so many animals to make these wonderful abilities, their own abilities, descendants and brothers and sisters. It was really important to me – to warn people. For many reasons, it is very important at the same time.

Gizmodo: You present very special examples of animal medicine throughout the book. But at the same time, it still seems like we have broken the surface of this phenomenon. Do you think that the scientists of the desired scientists are countless?

DE ROODE: Indeed, this area has been scientifically only since the 1980s Mike Hoffman and others We started looking at Chimpanzees and now we look at all kinds of insects.

We also see that people began to think about it. Many samples I described in the book didn’t really look for people caused by Serendipity-people, but they found. Thus, another thing I will do with the book, we have to start looking for a purposeful way, there is something real there to show people who are related to people and accidentally. I look at my bookshelf and see a book about mosquitoes and you know, there are some ideas that mosquitoes can actually be [self-medicate] as adults. They drink all kinds of nectar only when women, men and women do not grow blood. We know that there are chemicals in any plant in the nectar. So even in this level, we can find it Mosquitoes do that Both. And this is just an example. So yes, I think there will be more.

Gizmodo: A common topic about your return is to rediscover the lessons learned that today’s scientists observe the surrounding animals in the past. What is something that can benefit from learning more about the animal medication that occurs everywhere in animals and animals we share our world?

DE ROODE: For me, the most surprising thing to write this book was just discovered how much we knew and then. And especially true for the Western Society, where people are not part of nature and should be unique. So we are always looking for ways that make us better or smarter than other species. This happened that we have rediscovered the things that people recognize thousands of years ago.

Traditional healers and shamans have many examples of how animals appear in animals with a medical treatment. Even Aspirin, probably came from people who looked at the bears waiting for the bark Willow trees. Thus, we can see the benefits of a person’s drug discovery. But I think that in other ways and animals, we can also benefit.

I am talking about these livestock practices in the book. I think that when sheep and goats and cattle allow them to collect their diets, they also provide for nutrition and make choices from herbs, but also really good to meet their individual needs Healing themselves. And this means that it does not have to use more than antibiotics and AnthelMintics, then it means that we do not intend to create a really suffering drug resistance. So the animals give you a better life and are better for their well-being.

The same thing is true with honey bees. It has a honey bee crisis that continues. Part of a part of our crisis, because we believe bees are stupid, so we make them instead of allowing them to spray themselves. But This brings back The bees will make healthy, and it will do health. It will help with all the dusting needed for our food production.

If we are preparing happy animals will make for happy people.

Gizmodo: Out of your personal business with monarch butterflies, what is your favorite animal medicine that you have learned in your business for the book?

DE ROODE: My favorite story is the leaps and sparrows using smoking butts [to prevent parasitic infestations of their nests]. I had previously know about research, but I met Mexico and met the researchers there, saw the nests and saw the birds and saw the birds. But it can be these birds that can be really eligible and nesting in cities, especially in cities, especially in cities. And this is not a kind of opportunist, because cigarette butts will use nicotine plants or other plants, such as other plants that have chemicals against these parasites. Just seeing how these animals are inventive, it was just so a beautiful story and really loved it.

Doctors by nature: Ants, monkeys and other animals heal themselvesPrinceton University Press will be published on March 4.