Perhaps we all know that person who never gets ill, and there’s no use assuming that he’s automatically an alien or a cyborg. He might be protected by a higher power, though, but surely we would all use a more scientific explanation.

Tadpoles might represent the key to getting closer to solving the big conundrum, according to SciTechDaily. Scientists from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering of Harvard University have found drugs that are capable of keeping developing tadpoles of the Xenopus laevis frog alive while in the presence of bacteria that can be lethal. These researchers have also discovered mechanisms of genetic origin that are able to improve tolerance to diseases.

Scientists are also trying to find out how you can avoid contracting another person’s illness, and they’ve published their new research in Advanced Science.

Megan Sperry, Ph.D., first author of the study and also a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Wyss Institute, explained:

The standard approach to treating infections for the last 75 years has been to focus on killing the pathogen, but the overuse of antibiotics in livestock and in humans has led to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that we are having a harder and harder time killing. Our research has shown that focusing on modifying a host’s response to a pathogen rather than killing the pathogen itself could be an effective way to prevent death and disease without exacerbating the problem of antibiotic resistance.

Scientists don’t give up looking for ways of overcoming bacteria that’s resistant to antibiotics. Earlier this month, we shared the news about a drug capable of defeating such microorganisms.

Despite measuring only a few centimeters long, tadpoles are amazing creatures. They eat plants and algae, breathe using gills, etc. Before they reach their adulthood, tadpoles also go through a visually striking metamorphosis.

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