Happy as a Clam

New England Journal of Higher Education, The, Spring 2005

Quahogs are rugged mollusks indeed. Observing that the hard-shell clams survive the PCB-infused broth of the Acushnet River in south-eastern Massachusetts, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth biochemist Bal Ram Singh is now studying how the common New England shellfish also fights off botulism, a potential bioterror weapon.

Inject a quahog with enough botulinum to kill 100,000 people, and the mollusk will turn from white to brown, but it won't die. Singh and colleagues from India are working at the campus's federally funded bioterrorism research lab to figure out how the quahogs natural resistance might lead to a botulism antidote for people.

Copyright New England Board of Higher Education Spring 2005
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved

 

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