Human sweat packs a germ-killing punch
By John Travis
People working up a lather at the gym may be doing more than shedding a few pounds. They could be protecting their skin from infection.
In an upcoming Nature Immunology, German researchers report that human sweat contains a novel microbe-killing molecule, which they’ve dubbed dermicidin. Further study of this small protein, or peptide, may lead to new ways of defeating disease-causing germs, the scientists suggest. The peptide may even explain how sweat glands originally arose in animals, adds another biologist.