Antibacterial hand sanitizers aren't so helpful in repelling infectious germs, but a common species of tree considered by many to be a nuisance could be.

Not only is the Eastern Red Cedar a dense, slow-growing tree and native species but a Pioneer invader, meaning it's among the first trees that repopulate cleared or damaged lands. Not to mention, this tree has few commercial uses and there's a lot of them: An estimated 500 million of them are growing in Missouri, alone.

A very small amount of one specific substance derived from cedar needles -- roughly 1.76 ounces -- was effective in fighting methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSAs), the strain of infection that resists broad-spectrum antibiotics. And, other chemical compounds were able to fight and eliminate skin cancer cells from mice and could be effective as a topical treatment for acne too.

Yes, these solutions have yet to be tested on humans and are years away from appearing at your neighborhood drug store. That said, it's heartening to know the proverb, One man's trash is another man's treasure… has relevancy in the laboratory.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

ScienceDaily February 25, 2011

Columbia Daily Review February 21, 2011