Cute Super Ants Help Each other!

Summary: On April 4, 2012, a team of scientists from Austria put a micro infection in a non disease ant colony to see how the other ants would react. They found out that the other clean ants would lick the diseased ants to take out the harmful poison. This did cause the other ants to get infected but only a minor infection because they built up a strong “social” immune system to fight off diseases. Impact: From learning how ants can fight off diseases and help other ants with their diseases, this can help scientists figure out more ways to fight diseases and viruses in humans. Also from learning more about the social ways of organisms, (in this case the ant) this can help us understand more on how organisms’ minds work, adapt to different climates, and survive against the world. Critique: I think it’s so cute when I picture teeny tinny ants helping each other out when they are sick! California ants don’t harm you but invade your homes more than the ones in Arizona. When I first came here, I looked at cute little ants and picked one up and it bit me! I wonder what kind of ants these scientists studied on because that can affect the outcome of benefits from this experiment. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120404102303.htm