Propolis May Offer Solutions to Bacterial Resistance

Tiny Tools is Big Business
By Ron Godfrey, This is York (UK), 10/31/2006

A UNIVERSITY spin-off company, whose scientists have developed tiny tools to examine the nature of matter, is competing tomorrow for a £2,000 award.

Paraytec Ltd is one of five shortlisted bio-firms that are presenting their research and commercial potential at the two-day White Rose Bioscience Forum, held at the Central Science Laboratory, in Sand Hutton, near York…

Paraytec's only North Yorkshire rival at the presentation is Nature's Laboratory, of Whitby, which has gone back to nature to find medical solutions to bacterial resistance.

It works with propolis, a complex chemical which is collected from plants by bees and has antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal properties.

James Fearnley, managing director of Nature's Laboratory, said clinical trials had been undertaken to see if propolis could be used to treat some skin diseases and respiratory problems.

It is also being tested for ways in which it can combat immune deficiency diseases, like HIV/AIDS, as well as Alzheimer's disease.