Science AMA Series: I’m Cassandra Quave, a medical ethnobotanist. I
study the botanical ingredients used in traditional medicines for
infectious disease to discover new solutions for antibiotic resistance.
AMA!
Abstract
Hi, Reddit! Thanks to you all for these insightful questions! I’ve
enjoyed the opportunity to discuss our research with so many interested
people. I want to thank my lab team (especially Akram Salam, Dr. James
Lyles and Dr. Angelle Bullard-Roberts) and the amazing Carol Clark at
Emory Communications for their help during this event! Also - thanks to
one of my favorite natural products (caffeine) for helping us power
through the Reddit AMA marathon! I’m sorry if we did not have time to
answer your question but hopefully you can find further information in
some of the links posted during the AMA. In addition, please follow the
Quave Research Group on Twitter https://twitter.com/QuaveEthnobot,
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/QuaveMedicineWoman, Instagram
http://instagram.com/quaveethnobot/, and our research group webpage
http://etnobotanica.us/. I’m Cassandra Quave, a medical ethnobotanist at
Emory University’s Center for Human Health and Department of Dermatology
in the School of Medicine. Ethnobotany is the study of human
interactions with plants — especially in traditional societies that
incorporate wild plants into their daily lives. My lab is focused on
studying the botanical ingredients used in traditional medicines for
infectious disease to discover new solutions for one of the world’s most
pressing medical issues: Antibiotic resistance. Traditional healers in
the Amazon, for example, have used the Brazilian peppertree for hundreds
of years to treat infections of the skin and soft tissues. We recently
discovered that the red berries of this plant — an invasive, noxious
weed common in Florida —contain a medicinal mechanism with the power
to disarm dangerous antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria known as MRSA.
This mechanism works by simply disrupting the ability of MRSA to produce
toxins, so the body’s natural immune system can work to better clear the
infection. You can read more about this discovery here:
http://esciencecommons.blogspot.com/2017/02/brazilian-peppertree-packs-power-to.html
And here is a link to my web site: http://etnobotanica.us/ I’ll be back
at 1pm EST to answer your questions. Ask me anything!