Toxic carbon monoxide is a poison gas that may possibly be used for medical treatment soon. Carbon monoxide, dubbed as the silent killer, has been known as a deadly toxin for more than a century now. Scientists attest to the lethal results of CO poisoning.

A pioneering and preliminary new research, however, has found that ‘low-level doses of the deadly chemical carbon monoxide may actually have medical benefits.’ Some studies were done on animals, with findings that ‘small, controlled doses of the gas can have benefits for organ transplantation and fighting infections.’ These earlier studies ‘found CO treatment reduced organ rejection and improved function after heart and kidney transplants in animals.’

The research on humans has commenced at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, with case studies given the gas at very low concentrations. The study involving people has been given a vote of confidence by the National Institutes of Health. A federal grant of $1.4 million was also awarded to a researcher ‘to study the underlying biology of how the gas works.’ Operationally, the study hopes to discover ‘whether the gas binds to DNA to regulate which genes are active in the body.’

The interest in the possible medical benefits of carbon monoxide was triggered by Leo Otterbein, an associate professor at Beth Israel Deaconess who ‘first began considering the possibility that the gas was beneficial a decade ago, as a graduate student.’

Otterbein was studying ‘an enzyme that plays a critical protective role in the body, but worked in unknown ways. That helpful enzyme breaks down a substance in the body and creates carbon monoxide as a byproduct.’ He, then, began to investigate via experiments ‘to see whether the gas was providing a benefit.’

Via boston.com