World-first: JCU Turtle Health Research Facility’s “phage therapy” trials successful in treating rehabbing green sea turtles
“Green turtles rely on ‘good bacteria’ in their gut to extract nutrients from food,” said Dr Robert Kinobe, one of the researchers involved in the study.
“This creates a challenge when it comes to treating bacterial infections because if we administer antibiotics, it can destroy the ‘good bacteria’ and make the turtle’s health worse.”
Researchers at the JCU Turtle Health Research Facility applied ‘good viruses’ to green sea turtles and found that it was successful in eliminating the targeted ‘bad bacteria’ without hampering the non-targeted ‘good bacteria’.
“This shows that phage therapy can be safe and effective enough to manipulate or treat targeted bacteria in green sea turtles,” said Dr Kinobe.
Turtle News From Around the World
Conservation
USA: Melbourne Beach, FL seeing more nesting green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), UCF researchers studying why
USA: watch Sea Turtle Hospital’s release of Bovenizer the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) at Juno Beach, FL (VIDEO)
Crime & Punishment
USA: Oak Island, NC sea turtle nest vandalized, Oak Island Sea Turtle Protection Program asks for leads
Thailand: 4,500+ turtles seized from smuggler attempting to enter Myanmar
Ecology
USA: turtles nesting in larger numbers this year in Norfolk, MA, Turtle Rescue League there to help (PICS)
Education
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): learn more about turtle excluder devices (TEDs)
Miscellany
Youtube.com: GoPro turtle! Watch The Fish Whisperer attach a camera to a red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) so we can see through its eyes (VIDEO)
USA: meet Kiki the rescue leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis) and his keepers the Erwigs, learn how to adopt a tortoise in AZ
Did You Know…
When microbiota such as the healthy bacteria in a sea turtle’s digestive system are out of balance, the condition is known as dysbiosis.
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Photo from Bethany Keats, JCU Media.
