Erythromycin on the Half Shell

Marine invertebrates are interesting and useful to study, and we recently read about a clam as yet another living fossil. This time, we discuss clams that live in mudflats and produce erythromycin. That is an extremely useful antibiotic, sometimes prescribed for people who have penicillin allergies.

Although most bacteria are beneficial, we know some are harmful. The mudflats (also, tidal flats) that the Asiatic hard clam calls home are loaded with bacteria (and have other dangers, watch where you walk). Tides or rivers drop a lot of sediment in these coastal wetlands. So how do we get clams that produce and important antibiotic?

Stewart Island Oban Mudflats, WikiComm / Ingolfson (Public Domain)

Marine invertebrates are quite at home among pathogens even though they are immune-system challenged. The Creator put something in these clams that are living dangerously while secreting erythromycin and other antibacterial activity. Naturally, Darwin's disciples appeal to evolution and make evidence-free speculations.

Erythromycin is an antibiotic that has been prescribed to many of us that may have experienced skin or upper respiratory tract infections. It was discovered in 1949 in a soil sample from the Philippines. The drug is even used in fishcare as a broad-spectrum treatment of bacterial outbreaks in fish populations.

To read the rest of the article, visit "Marine Invertebrate Antibiotic."