[decimon]

No outer membrane ping.

In the Wikipedia entry, gram-positive bacteria have no outer membrane, you see.

[diamond6]

When I read things like this I initally get excited and then I envision the FDA denying it and my hopes just drop.

[Lazamataz]

Sounds like some very interesting bioweapon stuff.

Imagine bonding this dangerous molecule to the common cold.

Captain Trips, baby.

[StormEye]

"Christian Marcus Pedersen is currently seeking funding to broaden the scope of his work."

I'm sorry, all the funding has been taken up researching the wonders of homosexual sodomy.

[Sergio]

Medical Reference Bkmk.

[Billthedrill]

Fascinating stuff. What the Professor means by the phrase "can make us sick" is actually "can evoke an immune cascade," which makes this discovery highly useful in exploring the immune system's mechanisms. One doesn't actually get exposed to endotoxins until the cell wall of the organism is lysed, an action that happens at cell death, and in the case of the Gram+ organisms, that happens due to treatment with penicillin and other antibiotics whose action is against cell wall formation. That's one reason that antibiotic regimens can actually make us sicker for a time. One application of this discovery may be supportive therapy that enables antibiotic treatment with less risk of sudden anaphylactic shock.

I doubt seriously that this is a discovery that is likely to be weaponized any more than it already is; the stuff is already present in an enormous number of organisms. Knowing what is making us sick enables us to do something about it. It's a positive thing, IMHO.