Sometimes I read a news headline, and I start to chuckle. Or sometimes it's so absurd that I break out laughing. The one that got me was this one: "Self-medicating gorillas may hold new drugs clues." This headline in the BBC News had me stop and do a "double take," because it was very much not what I was expecting!

Researchers in Gabon have been studying gorillas for some time now, and started to notice that they would sometimes change their diet. It soon became apparent that it occurred when the gorillas weren't feeling the best. So, the researchers started to take notes of what they were eating, and would go out and collect samples. Many of those alternate foods contained all sorts of medicinal compounds. Four trees were found to be the most commonly sought out when healing was called for.

Coincidentally, these same four trees have been used in traditional medicine for decades. But the surprise was that gorillas also had the knowledge, too! Part of the focus on the gorillas was from an orangutan in another part of the world. This particular orangutan had an injury, and treated it with a natural paste from chewed plants that it would apply to the injured area. It helped researchers realize that they should notate these types of situations more often, worldwide.

What wasn't mentioned in the article was if this was already something that the medicinal research community was already doing or not. I imagine research for new medicines all taking place in some lab somewhere...I don't imagine that research occurring because a researcher of gorillas or apes or orangutans sees them doing something and think "Oh hey, I wonder if there's medicinal qualities to what they are doing?" Maybe that's just a sign of my lack of open-mindedness? Maybe it's a sign of my lack of imagination to solve the problem? Regardless, I'm grateful for the research, no matter how it comes to pass, that helps us better treat illnesses.