Potentially life-saving Queensland research has come to a halt because Mexican drug lords have taken control of their field site.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
An international research team led by the University of Queensland has found a new class of blood pressure-regulating peptides in the venom of vampire bats.
But the caves where they had been collecting venom is now in the heart of Mexican drug lands, and their research could be put on hold for years.
Associate Professor Bryan Fry said the bat peptides could help revolutionise treatments for conditions such as hypertension, heart failure, kidney diseases and burns.
“Mexico has been going through a period of tremendous social decay," Professor Fry said.
“When the narcos, the drug traffickers, move into a new area they will literally take over entire towns and drive people out, shoot them and enslave the women as prostitutes. It is social armageddon.
“For us it is an inconvenience but the people in region have to either flee or die.”
Professor Fry said, now the United States had become efficient in intercepting drugs via air and sea, a lot of the drugs from South America were being moved on land.
“That has made Central America much more dangerous than it used to be, Mexico in particular,” he said.
Professor Fry had to stop visiting the site near Cuernavaca, in Mexico's Morelos state, a few years ago.
“It started getting really bad and now it has gotten so bad that even our Mexican collaborators cannot go over to that area, let alone a lily-white Gringo like me who stands out like a beacon,” he said.
“This is going to set the research back years.”
Vampire bats, whose only food source is blood, are native to the Americas.
They consume half their body weight in blood every night because they have enzymes in their saliva that can break down blood clots in the animals they are feeding from.
Professor Fry said the venom from the blood-sucking bats had already been used to make medication to help stroke victims.
“This could potentially help doctors in the treatment of a range of disorders featuring heightened pressure in small blood vessels, or may be able to improve blood flow to damaged or transplanted tissue such as skin grafts," he said.
“We’ll have to find new field sites that are safe to work in, but once we do that we’ll be on track to find new peptide variations and potential wonder drugs, helping improve and save lives.”
The team are looking to start research up again in Costa Rica, but it could take two years to get permits and approvals.
