# Ant-ibiotics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 20, 2006, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-ibiotics/353407 "2006-04-20T01:57:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LivingInThePast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19b73/32.png) [@LivingInThePast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LivingInThePast)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-ibiotics/353407/1 "2006-04-20T01:57:06Z")
Okay, now I’m curious. The [staff report](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mantsdisease.html) on the cleanliness and fastidiousness and overall primness and properness of ants had this statement: > [@](#): > > The chemical secretions in ants’ saliva and external glands are loaded with some remarkable antimicrobial agents… Have any of the major pharmaceutical companies realized the gold mine awaiting them in ant-ibiotics? Are there any medications based on these remarkable ant-imicrobial agents? Just wondering… 😕 ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-ibiotics/353407/2 "2006-04-21T07:30:31Z")
Have you ever tried to milk an ant? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-ibiotics/353407/3 "2006-04-21T18:36:11Z")
All we need is for someone to breed [giant ants](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075989/). ---
**Author:** ![lesandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6f9a4e/32.png) [@lesandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lesandi)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-ibiotics/353407/4 "2006-04-22T15:27:28Z")
Do you remember or have access to the 1954 movie “Them!” ? All I know about ants came from that movie…and based on that movie, ants secrete boric acid which has applications in eyedrops and hand soap (20 mule team Borax) ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-ibiotics/353407/5 "2006-04-24T17:35:41Z")
[QUOTE=lesandi] Do you remember or have access to the 1954 movie “Them!” ? All I know about ants came from that movie…and based on that movie, ants secrete boric acid which has applications in eyedrops and hand soap (20 mule team Borax) [/QUOTE] I thought ants used formic acid, at least in their venom. RR ---
**Author:** ![LivingInThePast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19b73/32.png) [@LivingInThePast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LivingInThePast)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-ibiotics/353407/6 "2006-04-25T01:28:03Z")
Does anyone know of any ant-derived medicines? I think we can safely dispense with boric acid. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-ibiotics/353407/7 "2006-04-25T07:07:00Z")
[QUOTE=lesandi] All I know about ants came from that movie…and based on that movie, ants secrete boric acid … [/QUOTE] Ants secrete formic acid. Boric acid is the most common ingredient in ant baits, and hence harldy likely to be a product they naturally secrete. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-ibiotics/353407/8 "2006-04-25T14:14:49Z")
_All_ animals have developed methods to avoid dying from all the horrible stuff growing in the environment. Even humans have this neat trick that keeps us from going septic most of the time when Something Bad happens in the anal region. I remember many years ago some people got excited when they realized that frogs don’t get infections in cuts in their skin despite living in swamp water. Must be a great antibiotic in the skin. The result? No frog based antibiotic yet. What works for frogs or ants probably doesn’t work for humans. So yes, people know that ants have the ability to avoid a lot of infections. But no, no miracle drug is likely to be found studying them.